Divine Mentor: Are You Living in the Past? by Debbie McGrath

Forgetting the Past:

Are you living you in your past?  When you live in the past - you can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep rereading the last one.  There are many people today who aren't experiencing victory today because they are focused on yesterday.  People who live in the past - close their eyes, they don't see their dreams for tomorrow; they only see the devastation of yesterday!

One way to know if you are living in the past - do you have bitterness or anger toward someone you can not let go?  

Holding on to bitterness and anger. Not forgiving those who have hurt you:

Is there someone you have ill feelings for – they have abused you or betrayed you.

Has a friend betrayed you or used you?

Have you been so hurt by your spouse that your marriage couldn’t survive and ended in a divorce?

Has your child been ungrateful an unloving?

When you hold on to those feelings of bitterness and unforgiveness you are not hurting that person –

 you are only hurting yourself.

Unresolved bitterness is an anchor that doesn’t just hold you back,it drags you down. 

 It causes you to stay in the past, reliving that hurt every day, pulling you farther and farther from God.

Many times we can’t move forward in our relationship with God because we hold on too:

Hurt

Lack of trust

Bitterness

Betrayal

Being judged

Resentment

Abandonment

Anger

When you forgive that person, you allow God to deal with the person who hurt you. 

 You remove yourself from the position of judge and you let God handle the sin that was perpetrated against you. 

Forgiveness is a choice. It doesn’t happen accidentally. 

 You will be amazed at how much better you will feel – physically, emotionally and spiritually

when you choose to let goof the bitterness of unforgiveness. 

You must decide that you are going to resist the devil’s attempts to keep you living in past hurt

and then you will have to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to help you as you strive

 to be obedient to God’s word.

Forgiving the person who hurt you is a choice. It is also an act of obedience to God. 

 Forgiveness is a gift: and really no one deserves it.

To help you forgive others remember:

God forgives me for much more than I will ever have to forgive others for.

Forgiving those who hurt you –Is one way to get past your past!

Divine Mentor - What Will History say About YOU? by: Laila Wahba, PHD

Numbers 26. 8-12 

And the sons of Pallu:Eliab. The sons of Eliab:Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram, chosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, and they became a warning. But the sons of Korah did not die.

Numbers 26. 60

And to Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord.

Proverbs 22.1

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

and favor is better than silver or gold.

Isn’t it amazing that thousands of years later, we read what these people did?

 Every time their names are mentioned, the same thing is said about them. WOW!

This makes me think, what will history say about me? 

When people speak about me what will they say? 

Even if you have made mistakes, as long as you are still in the flesh, you can still change what others will say about you many years from now. 

Will they say,”She is the one who left her husband and children for another man? She is an adulteress.” or will they say ,” In spite of having a difficult marriage, she did not want to leave her husband and her kids because she believes that the marriage covenant is till death do us part”? 

Will they say,”Though she was in dire need, she never stole, lied or embezzled”? or will they say, “She is a liar and a thief”?

How will history remember you?

We have become so sensitized to sin- yes, I know we do not hear this word much nowadays- that we feel it ’normal’ , or even our right to do like the world does: have affairs, lie, steal, revenge, unforgiveness.

Just the other day, a born again Christian woman was trying to convince me that since her sister is a widow, it is her right to live with a man without marriage. “They are both consenting adults”, she said.When this comes from an unbeliever, I would understand it, but coming from a believer shocked me. “This is called fornication. It was never right and never will be”.”I don’t want to judge them”, she said. “Neither do I, but we need to call sin by its name. 

God has the door of repentance open for them. Jesus died for them. He will receive them with open arms when they repent. I am not judging them, but we need to call sin….SIN”. How will we be light and salt to the world if we act, think, speak  and look the same? 

Yet, we need to be careful not to turn into hypocritical pricks, into Pharisees, who judge others and accuse them, making us feel ‘holier than thou’.

 Jesus is our role model. He loved sinners, he attracted sinners, they felt comfortable around Him; they felt accepted; they knew that the door of forgiveness was open to them.Yet they knew where His stance was concerning sin. It is a fine line between a saint who attracts sinners to Christ, and a prick who drives others away from Jesus. 

Watching sin, should bring us to our knees, saying like Paul in Romans 9.1-3, "I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh”.

Oh Jesus, I pray today that you would give me YOUR eyes, YOUR heart, YOUR emotions, YOUR ears to see and hear and talk and feel to those around me.

I pray that You would always make me hear clearly and obey Your voice when you tell me 

Isaiah 30.21

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left

Servant Leadership - Cross Pointe Women

SERVANT LEADERSHIP FROM WISDOM HUNTERS:

This devotion truly spoke to me this morning - I hope it speaks to you!!

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and  whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for  many. Matthew 20:26b-28

Servant leadership is service to others. It is not jockeying for position, nor is it politicking for power. Instead, it is posturing for the opportunity to serve. This does not bode well for the insecure soul in need of abundant attention. Servant leaders avoid the limelight and serve in ways that many times go unnoticed. It is the little things that make a servant leader. It may be taking out the trash at home, or making the coffee at work.

No task is too menial for the servant leader, but there is something bigger than behavior that distinguishes a servant leader. It is attitude—an attitude of how to make others successful. He or she knows if those around them are successful then there is a good chance they will experience success. They are wise to want what’s best for others.

Self-service on the other hand builds a culture of mediocrity. It is all about taking care of my little world, not giving any thought to the needs of other team members. It is every man for himself - survival of the fittest. This self-service contributes to a scarcity mentality. If I serve you then you may look better than me—you may get all the credit.  This fear of not being noticed facilitates competition instead of cooperation.

Servant leadership on the other hand is not caught up with getting the credit. The servant leader has put to death the need for self-recognition. The attention and credit can easily flow to others. This is the place where it belongs, as our humility cannot handle the attention. Like a lily-white body in a tanning booth, our humility burns up. Servant leadership resists this temptation to linger in the limelight. Instead, the servant leader may give away opportunities that come his or her way. Seek to serve and let status find you.

Jesus served quietly on most occasions and boldly as needed.  No sincere seeker was neglected. His motive was to serve for the glory of God. His ultimate service was laying down his life for the human race. Consequently, followers of Christ can become a better servant leader because Jesus seeks to serve through you. You can’t, but He can.

Submit to Him and watch Him use you to serve. Die to getting attention and credit while celebrating the success of others. Quietly volunteer for the next lowly task. Set up others to succeed. Give away your life and you will find it. This is the way of Christ. This is the way to serve and lead. Submit to God, serve people—and others will follow!

“If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me” (Matthew 10:39, The Message).

Prayer: Whom do I need to serve for Christ’s sake that does not deserve my service?

Divine Mentor: Power in Weakness - by Teresa Houle

As I was reading my Bible this morning, this is the part of scripture that spoke to me:

2 Corinthians 12:7-10
7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me,"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Before I even got out of bed this morning, I was laying there thinking about how my life is nothing like I ever thought it would be - daily working at a job that I dread and that stresses me out completely, waking up every weekend to the sound of children that I didn't give birth to stemming from an affair that my husband had many years ago, and struggling with a huge lack of self-esteem that fuels an eating disorder. I often wonder why is all of this happening to me?  I certainly didn't ask for any of it, but what have I done to deserve all of this? The scripture above pretty much sums it all up; the struggles in our lives are what keep us close to Christ.  If I didn't have any issues in life, I wouldn't need God - I could do life all on my own. It's in my struggles that I find myself crying out to the Lord to help me! Help me deal with this stressful job, help me love these other children as my own, help me to love myself that You created!  Often, when others hear my story, they will say that I must be a really strong person to deal with everything and in that moment, it gives me an opportunity to tell them that it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Christ.  If it were up to me and my own strength, I'd probably be serving a life sentence in a GA prison, but thankfully, I have a God that I can cry out to in my times of weakness and tap into His Power that lives in me!  Philipians 4:13 says that "I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength."  So, in your times of struggles, use them as an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with Christ and for His mighty power to shine through your weakness!

Teresa Houle

Divine Mentor: Are you Afraid to EVANGELIZE? by: Laila Wahba, PHD

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

                                                                                                John 4:28-29

“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did”’.                          John 4.39

Evangelism scares many Christians. 

We wonder what we are going to say?

 What if people do not accept us? 

What if they ask us questions we cannot answer? 

Fear and our reputation keep us from telling people the best news ever. 

We have a lot to learn from the Samaritan woman. She had no theological degrees, nor even sound theological teaching, but she told others what happened to her; that’s all she needed to do. 

What has Jesus done to you personally? How has He changed your life? What are the miracles He did? What are words of Knowledge He revealed to you? How did He-in spite of knowing everything about you accept and love you? Just tell other those things and they will come to know Him.

Do not wait until you know enough, or you have enough courage cause it will never happen. Satan will always make it a point that you never get where you are so comfortable evangelizing. Don’t get comfortable… get going.

Dr. Laila Risgallah PhD

Divine Mentor: The Ultimate Sacrifice-Hannah- by: Debbie McGrath

Today's reading from the Divine Mentor Plan:
1 Samuel, 1- 2; Psalm 66; 2 Corinthians 7

As I was reading this morning, I couldn't get past the first two chapters of Samuel.
Hannah's actions leave me in awe - what an Incredible Woman of God!!

Verse that got my attention:

1 Samuel 2:2

There is no one holy like the Lord;

there is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God

As Hannah is turning over her very young son to the Lord, she praises God!

Hannah did not boast about her own actions of giving up her son.  Her focus was on God - her worship came from the heart and was saturated with the joy of the Lord. Hannah is truly a Godly Woman!!

What I admire in Hannah and desire for myself:

1.  She went straight to the Lord with her problems.

2.  She believed God would hear and answer her prayer.

3.  She knew children were a gift from God.

4.  She was obedient - she freely gave her child back to God.

5.  She knew the Word of God.

6. She knew God was in control.

7.  Her focus was on Christ!

The Divine Mentor: Wait for the Lord by Laila Wahba, PHD

Psalm 37

Of David.

 

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers!

 For they will soon fade like the grass

and wither like the green herb.

 Trust in the Lord, and do good;

 dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

 Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 Commit your way to the Lord;

 trust in him, and he will act.

 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

 fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

 Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

 For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land”

I see this Psalm as if the righteous and the evildoer are on two separate paths, yet they can see each other.

The righteous looks at the evildoer, and thinks that he is really successful, that he has no heartaches, that he is living a good life, that he prospers.

Yet God says,” you, my son/daughter stay on my path: trust in Me; do what is good; delight in ME; commit your way to ME, and I will surely act on your behalf.

Be still before ME, wait for ME patiently, do not be envious of other people’s success; do not get angry because they are succeeding, and (looks like) you are not. 

God is telling me, Laila do not look around you to the wicked man’s road, but look UP, look at Me. Keep doing what you are doing; stay on MY road.

"In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

 But the meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in abundant peace.

 The wicked plots against the righteous

and gnashes his teeth at him,

 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he sees that his day is coming.

 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose way is upright;

 their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken”

What will happen when you do this? when you keep on MY road? when you do it MY way, in My timing?

God will deal with the other party; it is not for you to do it. Just focus on Jesus and He will vindicate you.

The ONE who never lies says that the righteous will inherit the earth, that we will have abundant peace. Even if the wicked gnash their teeth against us, even if they want to destroy us… the LORD laughs at them coz HE know that the battle belongs to HIM (1 Samuel 17.47)

"Better is the little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked.

 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,

and their heritage will remain forever;

 they are not put to shame in evil times;

in the days of famine they have abundance.”

God has not abandoned you, He upholds you; he has an inheritance for you. Maybe you have been cheated out of your earthly inheritance, but God has HIS inheritance waiting for you. Just trust HIM

 “But the wicked will perish;

the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;

they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

 The wicked borrows but does not pay back,

but the righteous is generous and gives;

 for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,

but those cursed by him shall be cut off.”

Don’t be envious that the wicked prospers now, YOU will inherit the land.

 “The steps of a man are established by the Lord,

when he delights in his way;

 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord upholds his hand.

 I have been young, and now am old,

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children begging for bread.

 He is ever lending generously,

and his children become a blessing.

 Turn away from evil and do good;

so shall you dwell forever.

 For the Lord loves justice;

he will not forsake his saints.

They are preserved forever,”

God will not only provide for you and bless you, HE will do so for your children and for your children’s children. Claim this promise today as you pray.

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

 The righteous shall inherit the land

and dwell upon it forever.

 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

 The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip.

 The wicked watches for the righteous

and seeks to put him to death.

 The Lord will not abandon him to his power

or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

 

"Wait for the Lord and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,

spreading himself like a green laurel tree.

 But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;

though I sought him, he could not be found.

 Mark the blameless and behold the upright,

for there is a future for the man of peace.

 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;

the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

 The Lord helps them and delivers them;

 he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.”