All posts by LaurenEstella

Bible Study, Faith, how to, Inspiration, personal excellence, purpose

True Pride vs A Prideful Nature


How to Recognize Pride vs. A Prideful Nature:

 

True Pride:

 

True pride that has its way in you is unable to hear and respond to the voice of humility.  Therefore it has an insatiable desire to dominate, be seen, acknowledged & recognized. The serpents of jealousy, envy and lack and scarcity slither around in true pride robbing it’s host of inner peace and confidence.

 

This pride gets easily frustrated & anger flares up when it’s plans are thwarted and people stand in its way of getting what it wants.

 

It is fueled by unbridled ambition that puts things before people.  The non-essential before the essential, and will do anything, often void of moral conscious, to get what it wants.

 

This pride is like a spoiled child and is seldom content or deeply satisfied…always wanting more.

 

A Spiritually Discerning Person with a Prideful Nature:

 

Know this: Even as a human being seeking to love, serve and honor God you will experience prideful flare-ups.  Often times you will think you have passed a godly character development class in earth school only to find yourself taking a refresher course ;  ).

 

The difference between a person who lives in service of pride and one who seeks to put God’s ways of love and service first and experiences occasional moments of prideful flare-ups is this:

 

As soon as pride shows up the spiritually discerning person will feel the burn of whatever action, thought, or word associated with the prideful moment within their biology.

 

Feeling the discomfort this person will choose to return to God as quickly as possible.  Identifying and adjusting their thoughts, words and deeds to keep themselves aligned with the higher good of all concerned, which flows form their intimacy with God.

 

The spiritually discerning person sees pride for what it is and seeks the higher ground of humility, love and gratitude.  They are also able to forgive others when they have prideful moments.

 

Basically, the truly prideful person is enslaved to pride as they continually choose it over the ways of their godly nature.

 

The person who has a prideful nature or tendency as humans do, yet is not a proud person, is one who rejects prideful flare-ups and quickly makes amends as they choose God over their prideful moment.

 

Begin again, and again and again with even more congruency today than yesterday.

 

Align your actions with your God given natural state of being filling your responses to life with love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness and self-control.

 

Authentic transformation beings with ruthless honesty and the ability to adjust and choose God’s abundant grace which always offers the opportunity to begin again.

“Dear God rescue us from the weak moments of the flesh which rob us of the knowing that we are enough IN YOU. We lack nothing, as St. Teresa of Avila says, when we have you. Fill up those spaces within our interior castle which are void of the remembrance that humility, love and confidence make up the foundation for lasting inner peace and life satisfaction.”

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

Bible Study, Christian, Faith, how to, Inspiration, personal excellence, purpose, Stress relief, tips for purpose driven life, wellness

God or Man? Flip Your Authority

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI5i-7cCHl4

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

 

Too often we give more authority to circumstance than we do to

our God given ability to overcome, learn from and move 

through perceived challenges in life. This week remember

that GREATER IS THE ONE who lives in YOU than 

the one or thing in the world.

 

Your experience of rising and 

falling depending upon how the world judges you is in 

direct proportion to the power YOU give to the outside

circumstance to define your worth, value and capability. 

If God is for you…who or what can be against you? Flip

your authority today: Give more authority to the strength of God

within you than you give to the opinions of people around you and

or specific outcomes. Failure is just a label we place on an

undesirable outcome.  Think about this for a moment, if

you truly believe that God has plans to prosper you and not to

harm you, to give you hope and a future then whatever pops

up before you can be flipped into positive forward momentum.

What if you take a moment this week before any potential threat

to your sense of safety and ability to overcome and you remember

this simple thought: God has overcome all that I feel has overcome

(or potentially overcome) me in my life…He sees all and is more

than capable of doing more than I can ever ask or imagine for

my ultimate good in this world, I am safe and connected to the

One that is greater than circumstance.

 

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

Bible Study, Christian, Faith

Edge God In Podcast 1: The Religion of Evolution

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Edge God In Podcast 1: The Religion of Evolution

Dear Lord,

Give us the gift of understanding as we approach the very controversial topic of our existence. This is a hard topic to explain so give us the revelation of knowledge to understand that which you would have for us. We know that the Bible gives us answers to all our questions and needs and ask that you open up the answers in this area. Let us also take this knowledge to grow our kingdom and fulfill our purpose here in this life.

EdgeGodIn.com

Scriptures to Explore

  • Genesis 1:1,2
  • Numbers 6:24-26
  • Ecclesiastes 1:9

Uncategorized

Be Still & Know Refreshment


Refreshment flows in our choice to be still in the midst of life’s crazy demands. Knowing God’s refreshment flips to the front lines of our responses to life as we take time to pause in stillness before the One who knows how best to refresh our minds, hearts and attitudes on this journey of life.

Why is it that often times when we are overwhelmed we speed up? Our ability to access solution based thinking lies in our choice to slow down, breathe and pray in the attributes of God including wisdom and peace that passes all human understanding.

Today, focus on slowing down when you feel like your life is speeding up. Carve out for yourself mini-retreats that give you the opportunity to tune into God and allow the mind of Christ (as we are told we have 1 Corinthians 2:16) to flip to the front lines of your thoughts; words; deeds and actions. For the One who calls you IS faithful and He will give you the strength, wisdom and motivation to accomplish all that HE has called you into on this journey of life. Be still and watch how the refreshment you seek becomes your set point.

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

Faith, how to, Inspiration, purpose, Uncategorized

Our Wonderful Counselor


Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord , that shall stand.                                                         ~Proverbs 19:20-21 KJV

As we ponder on the right things to do in life and the right decisions to make, we need to first go the God for counsel.  We run to seek advice from friends, family, and therapist when the person with all the answers is right there… with you all the times.

Much of the problem comes from us being able to hear what he tells us, confident without uncertainty, that it’s his voice we hear.  This comes with strong conviction and dedication to your relationship with him. Through prayer and a continual building of a relationship with him, we are able to discern is voice, counsel, and instruction.

My constant prayer is that all of us are able to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the lord is talking, advising,  and consoling us in the right paths and choices we make.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!                             ~Isaiah 9:6 NIV

Lord, let us hear your counsel, and receive your instruction, so that we may be wise at the end!!

Dr. Stella

 

 

Faith, how to, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Oh Happy Day


As I turned on my radio on this beautiful Sunday morning, the Sister Act’s version of  “Oh Happy Day†was on.  It is so refreshing to hear this song and remember the simple basics of God’s gift to us.  Edward Hawkins lyrics wrote that “God taught me how to watch, fight, and  pray.”  How did God do this?

  1. His blood on Calvary saved us from hell and we are now able to repent of our sins.
  2. We have strength through his spirit to fight the devil and evil.
  3. He teachings us in the bible  to pray at all times to Jesus.
  4. We are to watch for his return. Exciting!!!

Rejoice today and everyday knowing that no matter what we’re going or working through our worries about sin has been washed away.  What more do we need to feel good about on any given morning!

Bible Study, Faith, Inspiration

The Spirits Intercession For Us


 

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.† ~Romans 8:26 KJV

Sometimes we have so many prayers and intentions that when we have a quiet moment with the lord we don’t know where to begin.  It becomes overwhelming and this leaves us feeling like we forgot to thank or ask him for this or that.

The scripture above in Romans is so powerful because it tells us that God already know our prayers before we approach the thrown.  He knows all our wants and needs.

 I have found that when I center myself in quite meditate, I not only get the answers to my prayers, but also to the things that I should ask and thank him for.  What a great gift meditation is which God himself instructed us to do.

 How blessed we are to have the powerful God we serve whose spirit itself intercedes for us!

~Dr. Stella

Bible Study, Faith, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Praise and Thanks


I experienced the gift of an answered prayer this week and I am thankful.

Psalm 118:21 – I shall give thanks to You for You have answered me. And You have become my salvation.

As I thank the lord for this gift, I have also been in deep thought about the large amounts of asks I send to the thrown of Christ. They are plentiful.

What a blessing to know that we have someone to go to who answers our prayers!

But have we been as dutiful to thank him like we should?

Let us not forget to take the action to always follow these answered prayers with praise. The lord has been gracious to us and heard our voice, so we must remember to praise and thank him for giving us the desires of our hearts.

Winston Churchill once said: We make a living by what we got… but a life by what we give.

How true it this for our eternal life to come!

Dr. Stella

Bible Study, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Gods Love


The one thing that we are constantly searching for is Love.  But who and what is the source of this emotion? And what does “love” look like?  The answers are throughout the bible, but I have shared five scriptures  that demonstrate the ultimate love of God.

  1. He sacrificed his only son to save us.
  2. He made us more than conquerors.
  3. He loves us when we are deep into our trespasses.
  4. He died for us even though we were sinners.
  5. He saves, rejoices, and quiets us.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 8:37-39 – No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:4-5 – But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved …

Romans 5:8 – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

5) Zephaniah 3:17 – The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

God’s love is our example and foundation.  Be happy in knowing this!!

~Dr. Stella