Category Archives: personal excellence
Edge God In Podcast 10: Trust Trumps Fear
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Dear Lord, help me to know deep in my soul that you have my best interests in mind so much so that no matter what happens around me in life I am able to trust with complete confidence that with you I am safe and loved.
Edge God In Podcast 10: Trust Trumps Fear
Click Here to Download the PDF Edge God In Bible Study for this Podcast: EdgeGodIn Week 10 Trust Trumps Fear
How to Renew Your Mind
“Be Transformed by the renewing of your MIND.” Romans 12:1
When Moses asked God, “Who Should I say sent me?” God replied,
“I Am”. ‘I Am’ is a declaration of identity. God is the
great I Am omnipresent creator of life. YOU are created in
his image and have the same ability to create your reality
through your thoughts which create your words which
create your perceived reality. Stay awake at the gate of
your thoughts.
Be very careful of your choice of words after ‘I Am’ or
‘My’ statements. What ever you choose to put after those
statements becomes linked to your sense of identity.
Instead of:
I Am sick
I Am exhausted
I Am overwhelmed
My tremor
My illness
My pain
My lonliness
My negative thoughts
Try speaking these:
I Am a child of God, ALL things are possible for me
I Am healthy
I Am energized
I Am capable of coming up with creative solutions
I Am strong
I Am joyful
I Am loving
I Am grateful
My ability to succeed
My ability to heal
My ability to create positive, healthy relationships
My ability to focus on what is working out for me
Stay AWAKE at the GATE of your thoughts knowing they form
your spoken words. Your body follows the commands you speak
which create your perspectives on life which become your
reality.
Dear God I give you permission to override me when I take my focus off of you and put it on me and my situation. Grant me the ability to remember that I am not my circumstance unless I choose to be. That you have already overcome all that I feel has overcome me. I want the ability to pause between what happens outside of me in order to invite YOU into my responses. Remind my mind that with YOU all things are possible!
Because of His Love,
Lauren <><
Self-Control: The Caboose of the Fruits
Learn => Reflect => Identify & Adjust => Integrate => ACT
The fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and gentleness are all ignited into action through the last fruit of the spirit: self-control. It is the Caboose of the fruits that keep the first 7 on track. Without self-control our ability to respond with love and forgiveness over hatred and judgment is blocked.
Scriptures: Learn:
“For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of POWER, Love & Self-Control.” 1 Timothy 1:7
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:1
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Zechariah 4:6
Reflect/Identify & Adjust:
One of my favorite reminders of who I am in this world comes from the above verse in 1 Timothy 1:7. Let’s dismantle this a little to give it more clarity of focus thus increasing our ability to put it into daily action.
First of all, know what you are and what you are not. This releases inner anxiety instantly:
You are a child of God, possessing the blue print of the creator of the universe flowing through your spirit that is beyond all momentary troubles and tribulations. Your spirit knows itself to be enough, capable and victorious at all times even in the eye of the storm. Simply put, you are first and foremast a spiritual being having a physical experience, as proclaimed by the Christian mystics throughout history.
You are not your circumstance; judgments from yourself and others; traumatic situations; rejection; fear; doubt or worry…unless you choose to believe you are in which case the spirit of fear will twist the reality of who you are as created in the image AND likeness of God.
For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of POWER, Love & Self-Control. You have a spirit that moves with self-control: the ability to choose a certain response to life that serves your well-being and the well being of all concerned. We do not use the spirit of self-control enough in our daily life as we play victim to our circumstances: “If I don’t get this certain outcome I won’t be able to handle it”…”life is a struggle”…”I can’t do that”, “Nothing ever works out for me” “I don’t understand why they did that, said that, didn’t do that…why things work out for other people and not for me.”
In order to experience the POWER and the LOVE contained at the heart of our spirit which fuels our ability to create, self-control needs to be resurrected to the front lines of our responses to people, things and circumstances.
Integrate/ACT:
This week practice self-control…step back from your quick responses to life, often fueled by emotional flare-ups of unbridled ambition and seek the wisdom that flows from the Holy Spirit, known as the Counselor: “Give me the words to speak that are in my best interest and reflect the higher good I am created for, or the silence needed for even greater wisdom and guidance.” Remember, true greatness comes through the archway of temperance, humility and love. The gap, which allows wisdom to drop in between what happens around you and your response to it, grows bigger with each act of self-control.
Dear God, I give you permission to resurrect within me the spirit that is my birth right as your child on earth: A spirit of POWER, LOVE and SELF-CONTROL. In order for me to experience the power of your love through my thoughts, words and responses to the life in front of my face I need the grace of faith in action manifested through self-control. Help me to remember who I am this week, why I do what I do and the bigger picture in life. Expand my ability to control my thoughts of self defeat, judgment of self and others that render me incapable of accessing the strength and power of my spirit to overcome and powerfully witness to the successful creative nature that manifests a greater good on earth, which I am willing to consider I will focus on at the sunset of this life. Help me to live my life backwards…doing, saying, creating those things that at my last breath, as I reflect on how I showed up each day, will cause me to hear the sweet words of ultimate success in life: “well done, my good and faithful servant, you remembered who you are, what you are capable of & why, with the gift of each new dawn your heart continued to beat.”
Questions for Growth:
What specific area of your life would you like to practice more self-control this week in order to bring Glory to God?
What could you do today that would help you think about what is good and admirable?
When is it easy to let the Holy Spirit guide your actions? When is it difficult?
Our Next Virtual Bible Study will be October 28th at 9:30 am EST/7:30 am MT/6:30 am PST
Because of His Love,
Lauren <><
Knowing Happens in Stillness
“Be Still and Know that I Am God” Psalm 46:10
Perhaps the invitation here is to infuse your daily tasks with moments of silence. Cease to DO & simply BE so that the divine spark that is ignited by intimacy with God can override the antics of your mind which is fueled by unbridled ambitions and the need to analyze, interpret and conclude…wow, just writing those 3 words is an energy leak.
How about this week you begin and end your day simply sitting in silence as you express the simple longing of the young boy Samuel: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
Sit for 5-10 minutes in stillness morning & evening and expand 1 minute each day. Then infuse your day with shorter moments of stillness before God: take 2 minute silent breaks from the mind and lean into God. Watch and observe yourself do life after these mind breaks and notice how inner peace, confidence and kindness begin to have its way within your responses to life.
Because of His Love,
Lauren <><
How to Release and Be Here Now
“Not by might not by power, but by my Spirit,’ Says the Lord.”
Zechariah 4:6
There is a spiritual Native American teaching that is worth our
attention in that it reminds us of a few practices that when
implemented on a daily basis can result in profound inner
peace, worth/value and definitive purpose:
- Be Present
- Act in Love
- Speak the Truth
- Detach from Outcome
The question is: How do we weave these practices into our
thoughts; words; deeds and reactions to life?
By contemplating the invitation held in Zech. 4:6: Not by might,
not by power but by God’s spirit within us. Jesus encourages us
to ASK, SEEK and KNOCK.
To remain present in a world that
is set up to have us live in the future and ruminate about the
past requires GRACE. Ask for the grace to stay in the moment of
life you are in NOW while wisely planning for future events and
meetings. Plan and schedule then RELEASE all thoughts around it
and return to the NOW a.s.a.p.
Do everything in love, for love, by love through you. You are
created in love so lean into your natural state of being in each
moment: FAME and STATUS don’t fit in the pine box at the sunset
of our lives…LOVE, gentleness and random acts of kindness do.
The only way to consistently speak the truth in love is to ask
for the grace to release your desire to be liked, understood &
acknowledged…and trust me this IS a GRACE…ask for it along
with the wisdom to be able to speak the truth with love (void of
the need to be right, respected and approved of…Jesus was
a master of this practice).
Go for everything 100% and be attached to nothing. Again ask
for the grace to live in this kind of freedom…we all had it under
4 years old. Resurrect this free response to life and fun, levity
and confidence will reemerge to the front lines of your life.
How to Speak Like a Leader
How to Speak Like a Leader Edge God In Virtual Bible Study Notes:
Lauren:
Out of all of the studies I have taken on managing the tongue one of the most powerful is from Joyce Meyers, The Power of Words series. As leaders in the world, we are held more responsible because of the people we are entrusted to care for and guide. Our mouths will either catapult people into the highest version of who they are created to be or shut them down, and we get to choose. The most essential fruit of the spirit we need to activate in the area of tongue control is that of self-control. Even if you have to excuse yourself from a situation because your tongue is about to sabotage your good efforts, do it. The brain is also at play when it comes to gaining control over your tongue and choosing to build up those around you. Reactive behavior is supported by brain chemistry. How does this look? When you respond the same way over and over, a new neuro-pathway is formed in the brain and produces a chemical that actually excites the brain, you can become addicted to reactive behavior unless you choose to jump in and stop it as soon as you recognize the negative reactive behavior. Neurons the fire together, rewire together. You are the gatekeeper of your will and choice of response.
Drag the truth out into the light on how to master you mouth:
- James 3:8: (it’s hard to tame; full of restless evil and deadly poison).
- Proverbs 18:21 (death & life are in it and those who love it will eat its fruits).
- Matthew 12:36:37: (Jesus says we will give an account for every careless word we speak…by our words we are justified or condemned).
- James 3:1-18: Prayerfully read through this one it’s packed full of take aways (if you teach (lead others) you are judged more strictly, more reason to master the mouth).
- Use your mouth to encourage (Merriam-Webster: to make someone more determined; hopeful, or confident); edify (Merriam-Webster: to teach someone in a way that improves the mind or character); build up (reminding a person that the strength of God within them is greater than circumstance, they have the ability to find a solution):
- 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
- Ephesians 4:29: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
- Proverbs 15:4: “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.”
- Bless Everything You Do and Practice Grateful Living: Pause before each email; conference call; team meeting; 1:1 review and bless it in the name of Jesus Christ. Pause between transitions and hit your needs with gratitude. Be thankful and declare it and the bless yourself (words; thoughts; deeds; actions) and pray it over those around you.
- Psalm 100: A Psalm of thanksgiving. Be thankful and say so.
- Numbers 6:23: “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
- Bless your people God has entrusted to your care
- Be quick to hear and slow to speak: Listen to understand verses to be understood. Remain in a place of observation and pray in grace to see people for who they desire to be rather than how they show up. Get beyond yourself, die to EGO and Edge God In. Resist the urge to speak in doubt, fear and worry into any situation. When we are stressed we hold onto life and tend to micro-manage people and events, we manipulate. We become obsessive about the environment; time and the body. When you are in the place of the Holy Spirit: thinking about what is good; right; true; beautiful excellence and praise worthy you are in your frontal lobe, (40% of the entire brain), which actually calms down the thoughts associated with threat. As quickly as possible when you feel spun out of heart based leadership communication declare the word of God over your circumstance: “I give more authority to the strength of God within me than I do to this momentary disruption in my life and may my words reflect my choice to shift back into the edifying language of the Holy Spirit.”
- 1 John 4:4: “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.”
Estella:
Speaking like a leader involves that art of communication.
Communication is so important because that is were avoidance of miss-understandings happen allowing open communication.
God has given us guidelines on how and what we should speak.
- Don’t worry about what you should speak as a leader
Psalm19.4 “Let the word of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. O lord my rock and my redeemer.”
2) God has given his people wisdom – so you will communicate the right way with Gods grace.
Psalm 37:30 – the mouth of the righteous utters Wisdom, and his tongue
3) Speak good and helpful things to people that will lift them up and improve them
Proverbs 12:25 (ESV) “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”
Proverbs 25:11 (ESV) “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”
- God’s word gives us valuable insights into how we should speak and it Is important that we follow his guidance and leadership.
Matthew 12:37 (ESV) “…for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Our words are a reflection of what is in our hearts, so we should constantly be filling our hearts and minds with what is best.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE VIRTUAL BIBLE STUDY:
HOW TO SPEAK LIKE A LEADER Part 1
Choose Your Attitude
Choose Your Attitude: You Have the Mind of Christ =>
You have the ability to choose your attitude.
Your attitude is the portal through which you process the events in your life.
Make it a top priority therefore to consciously choose the thoughts that fuel your attitude. Want more love? Be loving? Want to be understood? Seek to Understand? Want to be appreciated and encouraged? Look for opportunities to appreciate and encourage those around you.
Creating a positive life-giving attitude often requires the gift of grace, especially in the midst of challenging circumstances.
The prayer below is based off a scripture I read earlier this week that caught my attention, I believe that what God calls us to is possible now:
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Phil 2:5
“God, I want the very mind of Christ as I go through another gift of life today.
May I see, as he did, You in every face I encounter.
Give me Jesus’ thoughts that were not imprisoned by the yoke of slavery to unbridled ambition for status or the unquenchable desire for approval.
I want to choose love & compassion as Jesus did, over fear & judgment.
I want to think and respond as Jesus did: to love for the sake of love alone, untainted by hidden agendas or crevices of lack & scarcity.
Break my heart over the things that broke yours as you walked the earth.
I want to seek to understand over being understood, free from attachment to certain responses.
To be able to respond to criticism with even more love to make up for the lack of it in those moments.
Jesus existed above compliments & complaints, grounded in the purpose for which his heart beat: to be a missionary of love no matter what…I want that same energy and laser focus today so that my God given ability to create beauty in this world flows without restriction & reflects a focused sense of purpose.
God, I believe this is my natural state of being so as you answer this prayer of mine my joy will be complete & my peace will be profound.”
Because of His Love,
Lauren <><
4th Step in Emotional Intelligence for Leadership
In this final week of the Emotional Intelligence studies , Lauren and Estella share the 4th Step in Emotional Intelligence for Authentic Leadership:
Lauren starts the study by sharing scriptures on relationship management and unmanaged emotions. She then uses powerful examples of the leadership of Moses to demonstrate how we as Christians should lead and manage emotions.
Relationship Management: Perceived emotions; use emotions; understand emotions; manage emotions
Unmanaged emotions can lead to gossip; bullying; envy; jealousy; victimization; complaining below the line behaviors
Numbers 11:
What does God thinks of complaining? Overwhelm occurs when delegating is overlooked in the face of “I can do it all” mentality. Observe what God does for Moses (sends 70 people to share in his gifts and talents to support the job responsibilities). How well you manage your own emotions will spill over into how you manage the emotions of those around you in relationship.
“You too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near. Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged.” James 5:8-9
“He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick tempered exalts folly (foolish, lack of good sense or understanding). A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:29-30
Estella furthers the conversation by sharing the importance we as Christians have in understanding how to manage and express these emotions and also how to connect our emotions positively with others. She shares three points and scriptures to help us achieve this.
Emotional intelligence has been defined as the ability to monitor and interpret one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions and use this information to guide one’s actions and behaviors.
It is important that we as Christian coaches understand how to manage and express emotions. Additionally, connecting our emotions with others is important.
1)Relationships the involve learning from from others:
Proverbs 12:20
20 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.
2)Relationship that involve connection
Hebrews 10:24-25
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,
25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
3) Relationships involves peaceful resolutions
Ephesians 4:2-3
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Lauren & Estella
How to Lead with Emotional Intelligence Step 3: Social Awareness: Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
In today ‘s virtual bible study on “Blab”, Estella & Lauren shared key areas that will help you lead with EI using Gods’ Principles.
Lauren shared what Gods says about social awareness and behavior. in the next few paragraphs and scriptures.
Social Awareness: 2 Timothy 2:16: “Avoid profane idle talk for such people will become more and more godless. Their teaching will spread like gangrene.”
Be aware of the energy/behavior of others that surround you.
2 Timothy 3:2: “People will be self-centered and lovers of money, proud, haughty, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, irreligious, callous, implacable, slanderous, licentious, brutal, hating what is good. Traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They make a pretense of religion yet deny it’s power.”
2 Timothy 4:3: “Be aware for a time is coming when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths (in amnesia of God’s presence)…But you be self-possessed (not possessed by the ways of the crowd; shiny objects; fame game) in ALL circumstances, put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.”
What is your ministry in this world? How does the distraction of the world bump you off course? What is your vice that negatively affects your social awareness? Is it cravings for position; possessions or popularity?
Estella continues the conversation by sharing 5 ways to Lead with spiritual Emotional Intelligence in the remaining paragraphs.
- Care about people – Be aware just as God was.
Exodus 3:7:The LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.
- Embrace differences to make a big difference – Don’t view differences as a melting pot but rather as a mosaic of opportunities.
Romans 14:13. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
- Help individuals experience significance – Significance is the force that changes people lives and perspectives on what matters most.
Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so nthat2 they may see your good works and ogive glory to your Father who is in heave
- Be accountable – No one is perfect. Show vulnerability.
James 5:16 – Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
- Be mindful of their needs -A team is more powerful than the sum of its parts – but each part must be continually refurbished and renewed in order for the team to sustain its power.
Colossians 3:12: Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering; 13Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Estella and Lauren