It’s Time To Live In The Blessing

 

 It’s Time To Live in the Blessing

by Olga Hermans


My pastor is preaching about the blessing; he is teaching us how we can live in the blessing every day of the year. It is very interesting and it moves me to do something with that knowledge. I have heard more preachers preach this message; have you? It is an awesome inspiring and important truth. We live and move in the blessing because Jesus is the blessing; He is our jubilee! If you are born again, He lives on the inside of you.

If you are not growing, if you feel unfulfilled, unsettled, and out of place, it could be that you are ready for a change. There is a place God has designed where opportunities find you, a place where His blessings overtake you. People are hungry for goodness. They are hungry for joy. Everybody is ready for something to happen in their life, are you?

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out–plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jer 29:11 Msg.

God has a good place and a good plan for you! God has a particular place for each one of us, a place where each of us will find our highest purpose, where we will thrive and reflect God’s greatness. God will bless you when you are where you’re supposed to be physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I encourage you to find that place.

Don’t settle for anything less than the best God has for you! You can tell your place of blessing by how it feels to you: this is where I am supposed to be. Just lately I joined Toastmasters. My friend Pat Cruickshank introduced me to this group. The first evening that I visited I knew that I knew I had to join and I did. I did my first speech already and it went very, very well. But there was a knowing on the inside of me that I had to do this and that is the reason why I joined; no other reason!

When we were young we played a game with our children at our home. We would hide a toy or a candy around the house and ask Josephine and David (our children) to find them. When they came close to the “hidden treasure” we would tell them they were getting warmer and warmer until they’d be right there, when we would say or yell “You are red hot!” If they would go in the wrong direction, away from the hidden goodies, we would say, “You’re getting colder. Now you’re getting freezing cold!”

I would like to encourage you to always move toward places that warm you up that way, and move away from those that leave you cold. Move to the place that feels right to you, and wait for the blessing of the Lord right there.

As you obey God and follow His plan for your life, “The lord shall increase you more and more” Psalm 115:14. Just keep walking in the ways of the Lord, trusting His goodness, and He will lead you into a land of milk and honey. He will provide you a place where you can enjoy days of heaven on earth. Deut.11:21

I said, keep walking with the Lord and He will lead you. How will He lead you? He will lead you by His Holy Spirit, according to the plan He has laid out for your individual life. You know, God did not wake up one day when you were about twenty years old and say, “I guess I need to figure out something for this person to do now.” He didn’t just leave you on your own to come up with something to do with your life.

No, God knew you before the foundation of the world. Before you were ever born. He had a plan for you; a great, victorious, wonderful, abundantly prosperous plan. He has a calling and a purpose for every one of His children to fulfill. He has a plan, a place, and a responsibility for each one of us to do.

He has created us in such a way that when we find and begin to do those things we’re created for, we will be happy and our lives will be very, very good.

For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. Ephesians 2:10 Ampl.

Think about it. Living the good life! I can handle that. You are God’s own handiwork. You are divinely designed to fulfill the good destiny God has planned for you. When you were born, God placed certain abilities, dreams, and desires within you that would help equip you for what He wanted you to do. Even before you gave your life to Him, while you were still a sinner, they were there.

You have to believe God has a plan for you or you will never be able to walk in it. You will constantly be worrying and wavering. Right now you might be thinking, It’s too late now. I haven’t been listening to God and obeying Him. I have been doing my own thing for years and my life is totally messed up. I don’t think even God can fix it. I think I missed my chance to walk out His plan.

No, you haven’t missed your chance. All you have to do is make a turn. Instead of running away from Him, run to Him like you would run to someone you really love and trust. Start going after Him with all your heart. God can take any life and any situation and turn it around. He loves to do that and He is good at it! I know from experience. He is just waiting for you to give Him the opportunity.

With God we always have a good future ahead of us. It may take some time for God to lead you completely out of the trouble you are in, and you will have to receive wisdom from Him to do it. You can ask for wisdom, He will give it to you liberally. Plus I am here to help you as well. If you don’t know my eBook and Action Guide yet, you definitely have to check them out by clicking here.

 

 

Powerful Secrets To Discovering The Life You Were Born To Live

 

Powerful Secrets To Discovering
The Life You Were Born To Live

by Olga Hermans

 
 

Have you ever thought about the fact that there is no other person in the whole world that can fulfill what you are meant to do? There are two directions you can take. One is to press on with God. The second is to run back to something that you know is secure. But you will never be what God wants you to be if you turn and run.

Only if you choose the plan God has for you will you be able to fulfill your divine destiny.

Did you know that God created you to solve a problem? Why did you buy a car? Because it solved a transportation problem. Why do you watch the news? It solves an information problem. Why did God create you? To solve a human problem. You were created for a specific and very special purpose and to solve a specific problem on earth.

Are you ready to discover it?

So, you are not here by accident. God has qualified you to be the perfect solution to someone; He planned you, and nobody else can be like you.

Nobody else can do what you do. You are unlike anyone else on earth. God is not a duplicator. He is a Creator.

You alone are absolutely perfect and genetically accurate for solving a specific problem for somebody on earth today.

To discover the life you were born to live requires your total focus. Somebody said once that the only reason men fail is because their focus is broken.

How important is your focus? Jesus encouraged His disciples to keep their focus on the Kingdom of God. He assured them that their financial provisions and everything they needed would be produced through absolute focus upon Him.

Your focus is very important, because a broken focus will destroy your dreams. The moment you are distracted from what you are created to do, it will create a lot of tragedies and disasters in your life. I am telling you this because I have experienced this personally in my own life. I made some good choices in my life and some bad choices. But, you know what? It doesn’t matter. God loves to restore our lives.

He is about to do that and if you want Him to do that for you; He will!

Discovering the life you were born to live requires time, more than you realize. It requires preparation time. God gave you time and you might have exchanged your time for things that don’t matter to your life. You need to eliminate the things that God did not specifically tell you to do.

Your life requires your participation. Nobody else can complete it for you and nobody else can pursue it for you. It makes me sad when I listen to people who blame their circumstances on others. Husbands complain about their wives and women complain about their husbands.  We should never complain about things that we tolerate and permit in our lives. So stop blaming others for your personal decisions.

Never forget that your present circumstances in your life are there because you permitted them. And because you tolerate them; you breathe life and longevity into them. People sabotage themselves by doing things contrary to what they believe and contrary to what they desire to achieve.

You see, the moment you don’t tolerate your present situation anymore; you start creating a different future. Nothing will really change in your life until you cannot tolerate it any longer. You see, God never intended for you to depend on everyone else to step up to the plate and make a homerun.

Certainly, hindrances occur. It is common that relationships can slow us down, demotivate and discourage us. Everybody has experienced a connection with someone who at first seemed to be a blessing but then turned out to be a burden. But you have chosen your friendships! And the quality of your relationships that you have chosen reflects and reveals what you respect the most in life.

I have read some biographies of great men and women of God. One thing that always stood out to me was that they took personal responsibility for their own actions, decisions, and the tasks necessary to reach their goals and dreams.

Again, never forget that it is you who has chosen the present. And it is you who can keep it or change it. You may complain, whine, and gripe for the rest of your life. But you have chosen the environment surrounding you. You have accepted it. You have embraced it. You have refused to walk away from it. So stop finding fault with it.

You must grasp this.

You must decide the conclusion of your life that you desire. You must decide to run your own race. You must grow the kind of harvest you desire. This is why complaining must stop. You are responsible for your situations.

Are you deeply disturbed and uncomfortable with your life right now?

If you are; here are four questions to ask yourself that can move to a place where you are in charge of the life you were born to live.

1. What one decision would you make if you knew you couldn’t fail?
2. What one thing should you eliminate from your life because it holds you back from reaching your full potential?
3. Are you on the path of something absolutely marvellous, or something absolutely mediocre?
4. Are you running from something, or to something?

Your destiny requires your own personal choices and appropriate actions.

Will you do it? I would love to help you with my eBook plus action guide that I have written especially for you.
check it out here.

Consider 15 Ways Of The Ant

Consider 15 Ways Of the Ant

by Olga Hermans

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise; Which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, Provides her food in the summer, and gathers her supplies in the harvest. How long will you sleep, 0 sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down and sleep; So will your poverty come like a robber or one who travels [with slow but surely approaching steps] and your want like an armed man [making you helpless]. (Prov. 6:6-11) Ampl.

 

There are 15 ways of the ant for us to consider:

1.  The ant is one of the most laborious insects that exists, which means that the ant is a hard working little animal. It gives more effort than any other animal or insect in existence.

Success never happens by accident. No, it happens because a person has made a choice to do what it takes to succeed. What is true in the natural is also true in the world of the spirit. Do you know a hard working person? My coach Sandi Krakowski is such a person; she trains every day, lifting weights and all that good stuff.

This also works in the world of the spirit; you reap what you sow. If you spend time with God, you gain more wisdom and understanding of things. Ants are successful because they are diligent in all they do.

2.  Ants are the most developed of all of the insects. They work very well in teams; they do not go off on their own. They always work together; you could say they are company-oriented. They go and search for food, so that everybody will benefit from their hard work.

3.  Ants gather food at the right time in the right season. When it is time to take care of business, you will see the ant do just that. They are like farmers, they harvest their hay in summer to have enough until the next summer. Ants have a commitment, they just love hard work.

You know, most people love to live in their own comfort zone. When you want to discover the life you were born to live, you have to get up and do something. Not waiting until a crisis arises and then get up and do something. Not only work when the heat is on. They pray when tests and trials come their way. They exercise when the doctor tells them to or else they might have a heart attack.

4.  Ants love their own young; they always protect them. They are very fond of them. If there is a younger ant, the older ant is going to look out for him. The young are important.

5.  Ants are caretakers so to speak; they look ahead, they have keen foresight for others. They are always taking care of others in the community and looking to see if there is another ant that might need help.

6.  Ants do not need to have all the attention; they work quietly without show. They do not need the  encouragement of others; they just work. They don’t depend a pat on the shoulder and tell them they did a good job. They are able to motivate themselves.

7.  Ants don’t give up before the job is done; they don’t get tired, they just keep going.

The time to believe for your healing and your finances is while everything is going good. The time to walk in love is when everything is ok, so that you have all the reserve you need when you need it.

8. Ants are organized; they work for the good of all. They have these astonishing systems of organization.

God is very organized. If He wasn’t; everything would be lopsided isn’t it? The sun and the moon are in the proper place, if the sun would get to close we all would burn, if it would get too far away, this planet would be too cold for anything to live on it.

9.  Ants are ingenious carpenters and masons, building their own systems of homes and underground tunnels. They wouldn’t wait for a welfare check from the government, no way. If they need something done, they do it themselves.

10.  Ants keep their homes meticulously clean. Being clean in your own home is more important than you think. How can you be given more responsibility for something if you cannot take responsibility of your own home or your own car for that matter.

11.  Every ant has a definite job and an assignment. They don’t sit around watching others do the work. If you don’t have a job that’s one thing. But if you aren’t looking for a job, that’s another thing. No ant is sitting down just watching other folks work. The other ants kill an ant that watches others work, because it is a burden to the community. There is destiny waiting for you!

12. Ants are very protective; they fight to the death to protect their homes and young from enemies. You need to protect your own home and not be tearing down your own household. They are your loved one; talk good things about them or don’t say anything at all!

13.  The ant is a very social being; they do things like we humans do them. They will be with all the other ants and do all the other things. If you don’t want to do that; they kick you out.

14.  Ants always want to learn; they are intelligent and wise. They are eager to find out how things work; they learned their lessons. If they face a problem, they want to make sure it will not happen again. Some people fall into the same sin over and over again, because they don’t consider their ways.

15.  Ants know how to motivate themselves; they don’t need somebody else. They don’t need a boss or the pastor looking over their shoulder, or anybody else. Ants know what is required of them and they do just that. They have drive.

That’s why there are millions of ants. You can rub out an anthill, come back tomorrow and they will be right back. That hill will be going right back up. They are going to do just what they need to do to win because they have self-motivation. They don’t need a queen ant. They don’t need anybody else. On their own, they have drive.

People don’t do things because they don’t realize the value of it. If you would be like the ant, you would win. Consider her ways! They are intelligent, the Bible says. And if you do it, do it God’s way, and you are going to get results.

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The Responsibilities of Responsible People

The Responsibilities of Responsible People

by Olga Hermans 

 

 

Do you like gong to the movies? Just a week ago my husband and I went to see the movie “Courageous”. We were very, very impressed. This movie is advertised as a powerful motion picture about police officer dads who struggle with their roles as fathers.

The men in the movie have to face their biggest challenge, which is fatherhood. Being a “good enough” father doesn’t cut it when tragedy strikes and the faith of these four men is tested. When secrets are revealed and life becomes unbareable, they must draw closer to God and their families to survive.

Have you ever been in a place like that? I sure have and at the moment it wasn’t fun, but after some time when I was able to look back I could see my inner growth and how I made progress in many areas of my life. You know, you only can make progress when you take responsibility in your own life. You will be able to manage others when you are able to manage yourself first.

That is where responsibility comes in. Adam Mitchell, the main character in the movie first had to take responsibility for his own life before he was able to reach out to others.

Being responsible is something a lot of people don’t know much about. A faithful person is a responsible person. To be responsible is to give account or to be dependable.

Reliable friends who do what they say are
like cool drinks in sweltering heat–refreshing! Pro 25:13

NO wonder Solomon said this person is “as refreshing as a cool drink in sweltering heat” A responsible person is one who can be trusted. These kinds of people are hard to find, but when we find them we will notice that they are different than the average person; their motives are totally different.

 

Here are 2 of the elements RESPONSIBLE  people have:

1. They are motivated because they feel responsible; because they want to be trusted, they are willing to prove themselves. These people are driven by certain ethics and principles that they will fight for.

For example, abortion is an issue that may not affect us or our family, but we may fight against it and be willing to risk our friendships or reputation without any personal benefits.

These people are fixed; they have a firm foundation that they live by. They are people of value. They take pride in being strong and they don’t care if they are different.

2. They are motivated because they feel responsible to keep going.

For example, someone who is a millionaire several times over and has all he will ever need to go fishing or traveling for the rest of his life, but instead, he or she keeps on working every day and may even undertake something totally new and keep on going.

Some people may see that as greedy, but this person simply enjoys being responsible and likes to be an achiever. These people may do what others say can’t be done, simply for the sake of accomplishment.

Being responsible is more than making a commitment. It is a desire or an inner force that holds them accountable to themselves. They do things for the sake of getting them done or for the enjoyment of seeing them done.

Being responsible just for the sake of being responsible will make you a great servant. Jesus was a true servant. He had nothing to gain for himself. He gave up His reputation to build His name. He was humiliated and rejected to gain our trust. He was truly and purely motivated from within.

He saw what we were, and took the responsibility of making sure we got the opportunity of being what we could be. It cost Him something, but He now has earned the greatest name ever in history of mankind, and also in the world to come.

The Father sent Him on a mission because He knew that He was responsible and could be trusted. He was and still is as refreshing as cool drinks in the sweltering heat of a hot summer.

We too, have to make a choice to be willing to be responsible to achieve our dreams and our destiny. We have to set a good example. It is so very important because people believe a lot more of what they see you do than what they hear you say. So, take the responsibility to set a good example.

Living responsibly in our society is a big job. I think we should watch ourselves a little more and not be a hypocrite. Author and speaker John Maxwell says everything rises and falls on leadership. I believe that. What about you?

My Question to you is: Do you consider yourself a responsible person? How well are you currently applying this principle in your life?

 

Does Your Life Inspire Others To Be Better?

 

 

Does Your Life Inspire Others To Be Better?

by Olga Hermans

Today many are mourning over the life that influenced many, Steve Jobs. He definitely influenced the world by what he did. Many lives will forever be changed because of this one man.  Steve Jobs was a visionary and a dreamer as many others, but we were able to see with our own eyes what he did to make his dreams and visions come to pass. Apple believes that people with passion can change the world. I also believe that passion is one of our main attribute that we need to achieve our dreams. Steve Jobs definitely believed in himself and in his product.

It is amazing what we can accomplish when we believe in ourselves or we know somebody who really believes in us. Do you believe in yourself or do you have somebody in your life that believes in you? If you want your life to get better, then you need to help improve somebody else’s life. Steve Jobs was a great example. If you will help somebody else to become successful, God will make sure that you are successful.

God puts people in our life on purpose so we can help them succeed and help them become all He created them to be. Most people will not reach their full potential without somebody else believing in them. That means that you and I have an assignment. Everywhere we go we should be encouraging people, building them up, challenging them to reach new heights.

When people are around us, they should leave better off than they were previously. Rather than feeling discouraged or defeated, people should feel challenged and inspired after spending time with you and me.

The Bible says that love is kind. One translation says, “Love looks for a way to be constructive.” In other words, love looks for ways to help improve somebody else’s life. Take time to make a difference. Don’t just be obsessed about how you can make your own life better. Think about how you can make somebody else’s life better as well. Our attitude should be: To whom can I be an inspiration today? Who can I encourage today? How can I improve somebody else’s life?

I believe that God is going to hold us responsible for the people He’s put in our lives. He is counting on us to bring out the best in our spouse, in our children, and in our friends. Ask yourself, “Am I inspiring somebody to be better, giving that person more confidence, or am I just coasting along, consumed with doing my own thing?”

That is something that I love about being a mom. There is nobody else in the world that can take my place; I am the only mom they have and they will know it :).  Believing in my children and watching them grow up as mature adults, making their own choices and planning their own lives is my greatest joy. I like them to know that I am their biggest fan. I aim for them to know that I am all for them no matter what they want to accomplish. They need to know that I love them at all times and that I am concerned and that I really believe in them.

Everywhere Jesus went, He saw potential in people that they didn’t see in themselves. He didn’t focus on their weaknesses or their faults. He saw them the way they could become. Look at Peter; he was a man with some rough edges. He was hot tempered, loud, pretentious, and impulsive, but that didn’t deter Jesus. Jesus didn’t say, “Forget it, Peter. I am going to find somebody a little more refined than you.” No, Jesus worked with Peter to bring out the best out of him. It was in there. He just had to get it out.

You never bring out the best in someone by condemning and criticizing, or verbally beating a person down. You inspire people by love. You inspire people by showing that you really care. I heard somebody say, “Complimenting each other is the glue that holds relationships together.” With so many things working against good relationships nowadays it’s amazing what a kind word here and there will do.

So, be free with your compliments and be quick to speak them. Remember, your thoughts don’t bless anybody but you. You can think good thoughts about somebody all day long, but it’s not going to do them any good if you don’t speak them out loud. Every day, try to find somebody you can inspire by giving them a compliment and by building them up.

I want to inspire my husband, my children and my friends. I like to think that people like to be around me because I inspire them to be a better individual. Moreover, I also want to spend time with people who strive to bring the best out of me. The Bible says, “Iron sharpens Iron.” The way we live with each other should encourage one another to do better.

You can inspire others to do better everywhere you go. Everywhere you go, make positive deposits instead of negative withdrawals. When you get up in the morning, instead of applying your energies to how you can be blessed, find some way to be a blessing to someone else. If you make somebody else’s day, God will make yours.

Make a quality choice to be an inspiration to people and to bring out the very best in the people that God has put in your life. You’re never more like God than when you give, and the closest thing to His heart is helping others. If you will meet somebody else’s need, God will meet yours. What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you.

Let’s end this post with an awesome quote:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

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What Does It Mean To Set Your Face Like Flint

What Does It Mean To Set Your Face Like Flint

by Olga Hermans

… I set my face like flint, confident that I’ll never regret this. Isaiah 50:7
or I know that I will not be put to shame.

 

 

Have you ever heard that sentence? I heard it a couple of times this last weekend through people and then my pastor mentioned this very sentence on Sunday morning again. It was one of those sentences that stays longer with you than normal. I thought I’d dig in, do some research and write about it.

Setting your face like flint means determination. Do you know that you only can be as passionate as you are determined? When you are determined, you refuse to give up; you set your face like flint. People who have dreams overcome obstacles, because they want to see their dreams fulfilled. They did what they needed to do in order to enjoy what they like to enjoy.

God gave us the fruit of self-control and a free will, but we have to make a choice to use it. The less people use their will to make decisions they know they are right, the weaker they become. Setting your face like a flint and being determined is the decision to do whatever you need to do in order to have what you say you want to have.

We need to be diligent. Doing what is right one or two times or even a few times won’t always bring victory. Being diligent on a consistent basis and doing what you know you need to do over and over for a longer time, is the key.

You need a determined attitude, engage your will and be willing to do that particular thing forever if that is what you need to do. You won’t quit, you won’t stop, you set your face like flint and you are determined.

Real winners don’t put time limits on their commitments. They are committed with no conditions, and when they begin, they have made up their minds to finish.

The Bible says the diligent man will rule and he will be rich. Prov.10:4 and Prov.12:24

You cannot be diligent without being determined, just like you cannot be determined without being passionate. Determination is a mind-set and diligence is the effort that goes with it. You and I know people who decide to do something, but their decision is not a quality decision. They may pick up on something and do it for a little while, but when the first trouble appears, they’re gone and fall off to the wayside.

It is so easy for us to think we will do right than it is actually to do it. The doing makes the difference and it requires the diligence. The last part of our verse today says that God will never fail us if we do our part. God tells us what to do in order to have a good life and He gives us the grace to do it. However, we have to make the decision and realize that nobody can make it for us.

We all have to be willing to grow up spiritually, but we should also be determined not to give up during the maturing process. God tells us in Hebr.12 that when we are taught and corrected by God we should keep a good attitude and not give up. God has a plan for you, but He also must prepare you for the plan, and He will lead you as long as you keep your eyes on Him.

Most of us are determined until something happens that shatters our dream. What we do and how we respond to a crisis in life will make all the difference. Some people party and drink, or take drugs. In my FREE report I talk about the story of Joseph who had a dream of which he thought was shattered, but then he discovered that the very circumstances he thought were stealing his dream were leading him to it.

It is very important to remain positive and not start counteracting with lack of restraint. Some people eat excessively, others spend excessively, and others stop taking care of themselves and their household. A lifestyle of doing whatever you want to do is not going to eliminate your pain. The only thing that will eliminate it is setting your face like flint and being determined to have God’s will in your life and nothing else.

Remember to do all He has called you to do, not what He has called someone else to do. If you do what you are meant to do, you will be doing something that you enjoy and that really fits you.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said it this way: “if a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michael Angelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.”

Every success requires that you know that God is always on your side. You will be confident that you’ll never regret it and know that you will not be put to shame. Isaiah 50:7

Paul said that he was determined to know God. Phil.3:10 Don’t ever be satisfied to know about God, but get to know Him. Develop a deep, intimate relationship with Him for yourself and not through someone else. My background is the Catholic church where I only knew God through the priest. I wrote a book on prayer; check it out. You will learn keys and principles how to relate to God and hear His voice and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in your time of prayer.

Many of you just need a good dose of determination, a spark of passion that will ignite a steady stream of hope, enthusiasm, and commitment to keep going. That is the only thing standing between you and real victory. Make up your mind regarding what you believe, have God’s word to back it up, and don’t ever back down. Say daily, “I am determined to be all God wants me to be, do all He wants me to do, and have all He wants me to have.”

Will you set your face like flint from now on for the rest of your life, and never live one more day without determination and passion? Will you determine to be all you can be, and the best you can be? You have what it takes. You can do whatever you need to do though Christ, Who gives you strength.

Let us know what you are going after or what is that one thing that you think stands between you and your Destiny. Will you? It probably will help a lot of readers; thank you!!

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Finding Your Passion – How to Get Motivated in Life

 

Finding Your Passion – How to Get Motivated in Life

by Olga Hermans

 

 

Everyone today seems to be busy. Ask just about anyone how they are and they will respond, “Busy.” And it’s no wonder. Roughly 78 percent of women with children aged between six and seventeen work outside the home. Many people spend their lives trying to climb the ladder of success only to find when they reach the top; their ladder was leaned against the wrong building all the time.

In other words, people are passionate, but passionate about the wrong things. God never told us to be busy. He told us to be fruitful. We are making a big mistake if we associate being busy with being successful. Many marriages have been destroyed because one or both partners are too busy to spend time with each other.

Many people lose their health because they are addicted to life in the fast lane. They don’t rest properly and eventually their body breaks down under the strain of nonstop activity. I have believed that lie at one time. I thought the busier I was, the less time I had to even hear from God concerning what His will was for me. I had a plan and I was working my plan. I was diligent and passionate, but my passion was in the wrong place.

Just being busy doesn’t mean anything; it definitely doesn’t mean that you are successful. It means that you are busy, that’s it!! Have you heard this little story about the woodcutter? He was very strong and asked for a job with a timber merchant and got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason the woodcutter was determined to do his best. He wanted to be a success on his new job.

His boss gave him an ax and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day the woodcutter brought 18 trees back. “Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!” Very motivated by the boss’ words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring back 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he only brought back 10 trees. Day after day, no matter how hard he tried, he was bringing back fewer trees.

I must be losing my strength, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying he could not understand what was going on. “When was the last time you sharpened your ax?” the boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my ax. I have been very busy trying to cut trees.”

You might have heard this story before, but it is a very good reminder for us to not make the mistake of being too busy to do the things we need to do in order to be a genuine success. This is also a good place to check our motives again. You see, we cannot impress God with how much we do or with what we do. He is interested in our motives; why we have done it and it must be very good, Godly reasons.

We shouldn’t do things to impress people and to be admired. These are not good motives. Doing things just to please people is not always the right thing either. We are told to strive to please others, but not to live to please others. Rom. 15:2-3 That’s a big difference!

Let me tell you this: If you don’t learn to follow your heart and the spirit of God, you will always live under pressure. I just wrote an eBook on prayer where I describe how that works. I think it is one of the most important things that we have to learn, to follow the Holy Spirit in our lives. That is the very reason why God sent him to us. John 16:13

If God says “no”, then you must say “no,” no matter how much you are pressured by others to say “yes.” Likewise, if God is saying “yes,” then we must say “yes,” even if the world is saying “no!” The devil is a thief and a liar and one of the things he thoroughly enjoys is stealing our time. Time is a precious resource God has given us. Each of us have a certain amount of time allotted to us, and once we have used up any portion of it, we can never get it back.

Do you find yourself complaining a lot about everything you have to do? If so, you should inspect the fruit of each thing you are putting your time into. I can guarantee you will find a lot of your activities are not helping you fulfill your destiny.

The devil can make you feel guilty about not doing something you have been asked to do. The should’s and ought’s in life can be very domineering. Everybody wants you to do their thing. They have plans and want you to to help them fulfill them, but they are probably not concerned about whether or not you are fulfilling your purpose. Make a decision today about whether you are going to live for people or for God.

The next time you feel really tired, ask yourself what is the cause. If you’re tired from putting forth effort that is helping you fulfill your God-ordained purpose, then be happy. If you are tired from running around in circles being busy, but going nowhere, then repent and make some changes in your schedule so you don’t keep repeating the same wasteful cycle. You make your schedule and you are the only one who can change it.

People are frustrated when they are not fulfilling their purpose. If you are not able to focus your passion, you will have no energy; it will drain you. We all can get caught up in an emotional hype that has absolutely nothing to do with our purpose in life. Don’t make the mistake of wasting your life and having nothing but regrets to look back on.

Tell us how and where do you find your passion? How do you know you are on the right track?

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Your Heart Needs Attention

Your Heart Needs Attention

by Olga Hermans

 

Today there are more than half of our young people in the world living in single-parent households during their childhood. This creates a sense of abandonment and rejection in their lives. Yet God desires for each and every one of us to be whole and fully restored to how He created us to be.

One of the signs of an abandoned heart is that people refuse to look at personal problems and personal responsibility. When was the last time you looked at the attitudes and conditions of your heart? Whether you realize it or not, many of these were established by your childhood environment and carried into adulthood.

Your life experiences affect your heart. They definitely have an effect on how you make choices for your life.  And you probably will find it difficult to make decisions, because it is difficult for you to look ahead and see your future. When you are able to spend time with a good family and a great church family as well, your heart has time to recover. But hurts, bitterness, and lies will produce problems in your heart.

As you renew your mind to God’s Word, your heart will open up again to the good things of life. When you start making the necessary adjustments in your life, the problems in your heart will fade and you will begin to experience positive results.

When you know that your life is on target with God, you only need to make some small changes to keep going and continue to grow, increase, improve and prosper.

Let’s say for instance, you are driving from Vancouver to Dallas. You know, it is all the way south, but you need to make some changes to stay on course, like changing roads now and then. But you know, that you just have to keep on going to get there and not to stop and not give up, because that is the way to get there right?

If you have made some really bad decisions and wrong choices in your life; you better stop your car and change direction, and find the road that will take you to God’s best for your life. Most people have made some bad decisions, but that doesn’t mean we should stay there. No! There is always a new start waiting for us.

Sometimes you have to make more than small adjustments, you may have to do a U-Turn and get serious about life changes. I want you to know, it is never too late. It is never too late to turn around and set your life on the right foundation. Stop sabotaging your life and stop tolerating that your life is running on an almost empty tank.

The “roots” of your heart produce positive and negative results.

…looking diligently [becoming aware, plugging in, learning] lest anyone fall short of the grace of [or live below God’s will, His grace, His blessing]; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled. Hebrews 12:15

Bitterness means “a bitter root…producing a bitter fruit.” Springing comes from the Greek work phuo meaning “to puff or blow” or “to swell up.” Defile means “…to taint” or “contaminate.” A bitter root from negative circumstances in life swells up and contaminates our hearts. Take this motto: “Don’t get bitter; Get Better”!

You gotta watch those roots

How is it possible that a married couple still divorces after being together for many years? It is because a root springs up. Why do people get in debt and poverty when they know that God wants them to prosper? That specific root came up.

Why do we accept to be depressed and discouraged when we are full of the Spirit of God and know the joy of the Lord belongs to us and the peace of the Lord is ours? A root defiles our hearts. It keeps us from God’s best.

Roots grow below the surface. We are able to see the trunk, leaves, and branches on the conscious, surface level. When you renew the spirit of your mind to God’s best for your life, you are willing to dig up the negative roots and move toward a healed, whole heart.

The roots of your life, all those issues in your life; they predict your future. It will never work when you keep covering them up, ignoring and denying them. There will be a moment in your life, where you will have a big garbage dump of issues that you knew you had but never wanted to deal with.

Have you ever seen those acreages where truckload after truckload has been dumped “until it is full”. Then they decide to cover it up with beautiful grass and everybody sees “a beautiful park”. It looks so nice on the surface.

But then after some years, people in the neighbourhood begin to experience some ails and physical problems. After some research, methane gas is found and it came rising up through the grass. So, a complicated system of piping needs to be built to deal with the problem. The gases are gathered and burned off so the gas will not escape into the atmosphere. Why? Because they didn’t want to deal with the garbage issues from the beginning.

Your Life Needs to be Detoxified

Sure, you can cover the garbage of your past, but it will never be able to heal your heart. When you go places or go to church on Sunday, you may look nice, but gases are rising from the surface below and you know it. There are personality disorders. You love the Lord, you are on your way to heaven, but you still cannot get your relationships right. You trust God, you believe in God, you work hard, but you still struggle financially.

Maybe you believe the bible and you quote Scripture, but you cannot serve others or get close to them. You feel lonely, isolated, and separated. You call yourself a Christian, but you do not have time for your children, you talk disrespectfully about your husband, and you gossip to your neighbors.

We can look good on the outside, but the hurts, pains, and problems of our past are bringing up gases. There is a tendency to blame others and point the finger. We want to say, “It’s that spouse who left me,” “It’s that guy who raped me,” “It’s that parent who rejected me.”

Certainly they had a part to play, but you have to decide right now if you want a whole, healthy, healed heart.

Let Your Spiritual Roots Spring Up

God has always been there for you; He always gives you opportunities to be healed and to deal with the issues in your heart; those roots in your heart. Wake up and become aware of what is going on, on the inside of you. Make that choice not to hide what you cannot hide anyway.

We all have seen those roots that grow through the cement and sometimes can even tear a road to pieces; that is how powerful they are. No matter what you put on top of them, they will spring up at any given time. They have a way of coming up when you least expect them. Make a choice to determine not to ignore them or even deny them.

Our habits and attitudes are linked to a root system in our lives. In the natural, sometimes you can pull up one root and realize it has gone way over to the other side of the yard. It is not so easy to get rid of.

Likewise, in the spirit realm, we must begin to look below the surface of our lives.

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Prayer: The Breakfast of Champions

Prayer: The Breakfast of Champions

By: Olga Hermans

 

“If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day.
I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.”
~ Martin Luther

Prayer is the backbone of a successful life and many successful people know that very well. They take their time to be still and envision their day together with the Lord. Effective prayer will cause you to soar like an eagle in God’s plans for you.

I know people who are successful who will give credit to God, because they know that their success came from the time they spent early in the morning with their maker.

Let’s look at these points once stated by my late Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty. Why Early Morning Prayer would you say?

1.   Jesus did it

Jesus set the example for us in prayer. He got up early in the morning and found a place where He could be alone to start His day with prayer. So, if Jesus started his day with prayer, how much more do we need to start out with prayer? He taught us to go in our prayer closet; wherever your place is, is not important, as long as you can settle your heart in front of the Lord and receive from Him for the day that is ahead of you.

2.   The way you start something has a great effect on the way it ends up

If you start out communing with the Lord, there is a big chance that you will be in communion with Him throughout your day. The way you start out can have a definite effect on the way things will look in the end. When a sailboat starts out, the way the sails are set determines the direction the boat will go. The way you set your sails at the start of your day determines the course you will follow during the day.

3.   When you pray early in your day, you will get an attitude adjustment!

It has been said many times that attitude determines altitude. The pitch of an airplane determines how high it will fly. The nose needs to be turned upward to fly higher, right? It’s the same with or lives. If we haven’t set our lives in the right direction, we will continue to fly on a straight course and never gain any altitude. But when we start out by setting our affection on God, something happens and we begin to climb higher and higher.

4.   It is important to start your day with prayer because many interruptions come in the middle of the day.

You can pray through your schedule each day. Pray though each thing that you know is going to happen. Ask the Lord for direction and prioritize your activities. Many people jump out of bed, run for breakfast, go to work and sometime in the middle of the day, they might think about God. But then they might not, because their schedule is so demanding.

5.   When you are hungry for fellowship with God, you will take time for early Morning Prayer.

Some people work night shifts, which makes it difficult for them to start early in the morning. The key, however, is to set a time, preferably at the start of your day whatever that timeslot might be for you. Families are wonderful and your spouse might be the best thing for you, but there is just something about having a quiet time with the Lord. If you spend time with Him, you will be on top.

6.   Just as you would fill your gas tank before you start out on a trip, you need to fill your mind with God’s Word and prayer before you start your day.

Then you are prepared for the reversals, emotional situations and bad attitudes that you may encounter during the day. All the frustrations and hassles we face could be because we haven’t won the battle in prayer before we started the day. Problems arise and demands come up, and sometimes there is more demand than there is of you! You need to fuel up on the Word and prayer before you start your day!

7.   In Exodus 16, the Lord told the children of Israel to get their manna before the sun got hot on the ground.

Manna is Living Bread and that is Jesus. That means to get a fresh word from heaven from the Word of God before you start your day. There is just something about getting up early to gather your manna at the start of the day.  People who don’t set their sails on God early in the day many times forget about Him during the day, and they go in the power of their own flesh.

8.   When you start your time of prayer with praise to the Lord, you will receive revelation, instruction, inspiration, strength, peace, deliverance from temptation, refreshing and restoration.

People faint and become weary when they do not wait upon the Lord in a time dedicated to prayer. When people talk about how weary they are and how difficult their spiritual life is, they actually say that their prayerlife has ebbed away. Isaiah 40:28-31 tells us clearly that those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will exchange their weakness for the strength of God.

9.   Giving God the first part of your day is part of the spiritual law of giving the first fruits. If you give God the first part of your day, He will multiply time back to you.

Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Pro 3:5-6

God will guide the path you take if you pray over it. But if you don’t acknowledge God and ask for His wisdom, He could be standing right in front of you with the answer to every problem you are facing, but you are too busy trying to solve your own problems and trying to make things happen in the flesh.

God wants to speak to you in early Morning Prayer. If you take time to listen, you will hear God speak.

When the gate of your day is guarded with prayer, the devil won’t be able to gain entrance into your life because you will be alert to his tactics. Without early morning prayer, however, people’s minds and spirits aren’t that alert to the voice of God.

But when you get up early in the morning and God speaks to you at the start of your day, it will carry you, guard you and keep you on course. I, myself, have experienced both; there were times in my life that I skipped my time with the Lord early in the morning and there is that time that I love to go in front of the Lord and open up my heart to receive from Him and leave all my cares of the day with Him. The latter is the best of course.

God will never condemn you; He loves you no matter what you have done; He is always there for you. For me; I live each day with the understanding that if it were not for God’s unconditional love and grace, I would not be where I am today.

Let us know and share with our readers how you set your time with God. Be an encouragement to others, because that is what we need. Thank you so much for doing that.

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You Can Live the Satisfied Life

 

Living the Satisfied Life

by Olga Hermans

 

Have you ever thought about what it is that brings true satisfaction and fulfillment in life? How you can find that contentment that will last longer this time? We clutter our life with so much meaningless work and activities that it is easy to lose sight of the way that God has meant your existence to be. He designed us and it is up to us to discover the life we were born to live.

Life is meant to be enjoyable, fulfilling, and satisfying; there is so much more to it than just existing or struggling or even surviving. I just have been watching a teaching from Dr. Don Colbert and he said that things/material possessions only produce 10% happiness. Personality makes up about 50% and 40% comes from how we think, our actions and reactions. I thought that was very interesting, because we think, in our way of living, that things bring us the satisfaction that we desire so much.

Truly happy people have found that fulfillment finds its source deep within and is largely unaffected by external surroundings or material possessions. The world however thinks totally different; the world is always pulling us to buy this and do that and most of the times, we fall into that trap.

Several years ago, a U.S. news magazine conducted a survey, questioning people in various income categories. People with an annual income of $25,000 were asked how much money it would take for them to live “the American Dream.” The average answer was $54,000 annually. The same question was asked of people making $100,000 annually; their average answer was $192,000.

What do the results of this survey tell us? Until we come to the understanding that living satisfied comes from our heart and the way we think; our mindset, we will always think that we need more things in our way of living to reach our goal in life. A very rich man once answered the question of how much it takes to be rich with “just a little more”. That is what most people think “just a little more.”

Benjamin Franklin said it his way, “To be content makes a poor man rich and discontent makes a rich man poor.” To really enjoy a life of fulfilment on a daily basis, we need to have our eyes on the right source.

To enjoy this kind of fulfilled life on a daily basis, it is important for us to look to the right source. People around us and even our best family and friends cannot give us what we truly crave. People will always disappoint us, because we humans are fickle. We should never seek approval of others, material possessions or status because they are not meant to be in our days to give us that kind of lasting satisfaction that we think we so desperately need.

Oh yes, there is that superficial sense of satisfaction that can come from all kinds of sources, but that is not the kind of satisfaction that you are looking for, because they are always unpredictable and short-lived.

To be “satisfied” can be defined as the sense of having enough or doing enough; to be content; or to experience fulfillment and gratification. The problem is though that the average person never thinks or feels like has really reached that point of having done enough. That is why we need to have a close look at our perspective in life and to get a grip on the source of real fulfillment and lasting satisfaction.

Can you imagine how fulfilled your life with Jesus can be? His love and joy and abundance are living on the inside of us. Jesus isn’t fickle or inconsistent; He is always the same. He is the only person that you really can depend on. When we put Him 1st place in our life and we center our lives in Him, we become happier and stronger and on top of that we become much healthier in all areas of our way of living.

We have a better outlook on our way of living and because we feel so much better and feel fulfilled, our relationships flourish. Everything gets better, because our focus is not on other people but on Jesus who always causes us to triumph in every situation.

That is the key, that for a lasting satisfied life of fulfillment we need to become deeply connected with an intimate relationship with God. The person who created us to love us no matter what; the person that has experienced that is truly satisfied in the Lord because he understands that God is the only reliable source in his way of living. The only source that of true fulfillment, abundant provision, and lasting security.

This is how The Apostle said it:way of living

    …For I have learned to be satisfied with what I have. I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me. Phil. 4:11-13

Paul tells us that we need to learn to be satisfied and that it is an attitude that we need to practice. You know, look at the children; they are never content on their own. They always want something new. Marketers know this for a fact; they place the goodies for the children on a lower eye level just for them. We as mommies have to tell them that they cannot get everything they want, right? Children aren’t satisfied with what they have; they want what they don’t have.

Sadly enough many people are still the same when they grow up. Teenagers almost always give in on peer pressure; they want to have the latest thing in the store because “everyone has it.” Far too often, that same childish behaviour carries on into marriages. Some people will always live with that constant feeling of dissatisfaction because of the things they don’t have.

There are far too many people who want to “keep up with the Joneses” and want to have the latest fashion and the latest gadgets or the newest car even. This dissatisfaction robs people’s joy and clouds their lives with discontentment.

Paul talks about attitude of contentment in First Timothy 6:6 (AMP):

“[And it is, indeed, a source of immense profit, for] godliness accompanied with contentment (that contentment which is a sense of inward sufficiency) is great and abundant gain.” Paul describes contentment as a sense of inward sufficiency. It is to be our source of immense profit.

Read again what Paul says in Philippians 4:11: “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” This same idea is also found in Hebrews 13:5: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”

A satisfied life comes forth when we live from the inside out; when we can see it on the inside it will automatically show up on the outside.

When we center ourselves in Him, we discover the depth of Jesus’ love for us, and this brings the fulfillment we long for. It is from this point that we discover the power and security of living a contented way of living. As you become clearer about how you want your life to look like and about who you are in Christ, you will watch it come to pass in your own life and that is the true satisfied life.

The moment we are content and at peace with God, we can be at peace with ourselves. His peace brings confidence, no matter who we’re with or how intimidating someone may seem.

Question: What are the things in your life that keep you back from living your life with contentment and satisfaction? Please share with us and the other readers.

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