Fast From 1 Thing for Brain Strength
Are You Shrinking Your Brain?
How much of your verbal communication in a 24 hour
period of time contains an element of complaining?
10%? 25% 50% 75% 90%?
Take a moment to go into your internal castle, close your eyes and
give this self inventory question a moment to marinate. For any positive
shift to occur it is essential to shine the light of
our awareness on the state of behavior we wish to prune
out of our life.
Next question: Are you a conscious communicator? Someone
who pauses before responding and edits and adjusts words
to align with the person you are committed to being.
OR
Have you fallen asleep at the gate of your most powerful
modality to create a positive or negative space around you
on this journey of life: Your Tongue.
Science proves that your brain actually shrinks in the midst of
complaining, either from your own mouth or people around you.
Victory over undesirable circumstances lies in your ability
to occupy the space you feel honors the person you are committed
to being. Do you edify yourself and those around you or do
you cut down yourself and those around you? The choice is
yours and makes all the difference in the outcomes you experience.
This week I invite you to take a complaining fast, I’m going to join
you in this practice. As you feel a negative conclusion or statement
bubbling up into your mouth, put your hand over your mouth
and step away from the situation if necessary to catch yourself.
As quickly as possible flip the negative thought into a positive one.
For example: “I am so exhausted and fed up with my work load.”
Flip It: “I love how much effort I put behind what I do in life, my
body is telling me it’s time to take a break and restore so I can
continue to show up the way I want to show up, and I am going to honor that.”
“When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example, although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course one’s life on fire…” James 3:3-6
Nolite Timere: Fear Not!
Because of His Love,
Lauren
Edge God in Podcast 13: Activate Aging Grace _ part 1
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Edge God In Podcast Week 14: Activate Aging Grace
Our topic for today is to Activate Aging Grace and we will do this through what the scripture tells us. A tenant of Emotional Intelligence tells us that Self-Awareness => Self-Management.
But are we following this tenant in the flesh or in the spirit?
God’s way to grow old is to develop a walk with him. Ps: 71:18 says, “Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come”.
The reason this old man was able to handle his problems so well in his old age, is because he developed a walk with God, in the years leading to this time and he still was doing God’s work by showing his power to everyone.
The Bible presents aging as a normal process, a natural part of life, an honor. Proverbs 16:31 and 20:29 speak to the benefits of gray hair.“Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life” (Proverbs 16:31; see also Proverbs 20:29).
God wants us to remember that life is short (James 4:14) and that the beauty of youth is soon gone (Proverbs 31:30; 1 Peter 1:24)
Learn:
1: We have too much vanity and should work to change it:
Ecclesiastes 1:2 Vanity2 of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All vanity.
We are born with a natural tendency to “live for the moment,” but the ultimate futility of that approach is the subject of concern. Proverbs 16:18
2: Our current goal in life is beauty and youth which should be changed to wisdom and knowledge.
God’s desire for us is that we become wiser. Solomon’s hope is that people will grow wiser in the use of their God-given “portion” or allotment before they die. Ecclesiastes 8: 1- Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
3: Individualism has become a disturbing aspect of aging and not caring for the old has become the new norm.
Timothy 5:3-4 says if we honor our parents we are honoring God. It says Honor widows who are truly widows. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.
What is your mindset on aging? How does the Fountain of Youth take you off course and away from his intentions? Are you social aware of his thought on the aging process, are does the flesh and ego get in the way?
Edge God In Podcast 13: Emotional Intelligence: Step 2
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Edge God In Bible Study =>
2nd Step in Emotional Intelligence:
Self-management: Requires high noticing around what spins you and the ability to adjust.
How? Allow the Holy Spirit to guide the flesh vs. the flesh to guide the Spirit.
Romans: 8:5: Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh. Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.
Flesh: Romans 5:5: And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
If you live in the flesh you are concerned about the things in the flesh. What are things of the flesh? Anything that distracts you from communion with God: status; fame; popularity; money; opinions of others; greed; malice; self glorification and gratification; jealousy; fits of rage; coveting. Basically like a spoiled child the flesh is never satisfied, it is always craving more. The flesh will also question God and feel victimized: Why me?
Colossians 3:5-10: “ 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
What is your vice? Have high noticing and then the ability to manage the fleshly flare-ups.
Colossians 3:12: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. The Spirit of God dwells in you. When you are in the Spirit you are pleasing to God: heartfelt compassion, putting up with others.
Romans 8:12: We are not debtors to the flesh.
High Noticing is essential for self-management. The fruit of the Spirit self-control and it is an essential ingredient for effective self-management.
~Lauren Estella
Edge God In Podcast 14: Emotional Intelligence in God: Step 1
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EdgeGodIn.com | Host: Lauren E Miller
Championing Human Potential in Christ
Emotional Intelligence in Christ Project: Book & Course Now Launched
Support Resources: Hearing His Whisper, with Every Storm Jesus Comes Too
Hearing His Whisper: https://amzn.to/3nNxdya
Holy Spirit, grant me wisdom. Show me who you have created me to be in this world. Help me to see myself as God sees me rather than how I judge myself. I give you permission to remove everything within me that is not of God, that does not glorify Him or make Him recognizable in my life: my judgments…towards self and others…my conclusions about life that are based in story verses reality, including assuming and mind reading. I am nothing without you Lord, and with you I am everything and feel complete, significant and valued. Refresh me Lord so that I remain in you. Have your way with me in spite of myself.
Edge God In Podcast 14: Leadership: Self-Awareness EQ
Self-Awareness => Self-Management
Social Awareness => Relationship Management
Click Here to Download the PDF Edge God In Bible Study for this Podcast: EdgeGodIn Week 13- 1st Step in Emotional Intelligence
Edge God In Podcast 37: Food for the Flock
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Feed the Flock
Father God, I ask that you bless this bible study by opening up our hearts and minds to the learning you have for us today. I ask you that you enrich our abilities to learn, digest, apply all that we learn in a way that creates change in our hearts and minds. With your guidance, I ask that your word provides the knowledge needed to shepherd your flock toward the revelation of knowledge that you have for them. I thank you in advance for enriching our lives with this time to learn and experience more of you.
Edge God in Podcast Week 12: Food for the Flock
What does it mean to feed to flock?
Feeding the flock is a commitment to the worship of God. It is an active process which requires one to directly and personally experience him. It also takes us being actively involved in the works of the church (church meaning the body of Christ).
What does God say about feeding the flock?
1 Peter 5:2 says, “shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
Jeremiah 3:15 says “Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Jeremiah 23:4 says, “I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them, and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD.
How to I shepherd the change in our hearts and minds?
- In the world – We must be ready to receive the world no matter what state of readiness
Acts 17:10-11 says: received the work with all readiness, and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
We look too much into what we are told and don’t research or study what is there. In order to receive and flock the world, we need to be ready.
- By faith – we have to return to the faith of the disciples. There were countless examples of their faith that stood the test of time. God says in Romans 14:23, that for whatever in not form faith is sin. He says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 twe walk by faith, not by sight.
Faith takes a relationship with God. It must be a relationship of trust at the root of the foundation. Trusting is hard if you can‘t see it and that is where the faith comes in.
- Through the Gospels: they tell us that there is a sense of urgency in the feeding of the flock. God says we no not the time or hour when the son of man comes back but we do know what are work here is to do and that requires us to urgently and diligently work to do this.
Conclusion: Feeding the flock can involve all forms of works in the church. Healing, ministering, teaching, etc. Neglecting the “feeding the flock” is in turn very badly damaging to preaching the gospel to the world. You can’t be a casual observer but must be personally involved.
Edge God In Podcast 12: 5 Power Themes You Want to Know
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Sweet Jesus you call me to take every thought captive and make it obedient to you, perhaps this is the 1 practice that will allow me to release stress and anxiety within my life. Give me the grace today to pray about everything that spins or bumps me out of your peace that passes all human understanding. The world screams for my attention as hundreds of shiny objects cross my path in a day. May gentleness flow through my intonation to myself and those around me.
Edge God In Podcast 12: 5 Power Themes You Want to Know
Click Here to Download the PDF Edge God In Bible Study for this Podcast: EdgeGodIn Week 12 5 Themes You Want to Know
Episode 11 Clarity in the Midst of Confusion
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Clarity in the Midst of Confusion:
Holy Spirit, in the midst of my confusion I invite the power of clarity. Fill me with the ability to tune into the essential in my life and release the non-essentials, which all too often create confusion and chaos. Make it simply for me to know my next step and to move forward with confidence knowing that you have plans to prosper me and not to harm me, to give me hope and a future. I want you to bring clarity to my ears so that I can hear and respond to God’s voice behind me saying, “this is the way, walk in it.”
Learn:
Problem: Due to the drug of approval, our innate desire to be seen acknowledged and recognized, we end up replacing the clarity that the Holy Spirit offers us with confusion. We look to the outer world to give us that, which can never bring lasting joy and contentment. Jesus left us with the gift of the Holy Spirit to remind us of what Jesus revealed and to guide us into all truth, ultimately setting us free from confusion. As we learned in the Edge God In Podcast: Trust Trumps Fear, Adam and Eve where thrown into confusion: “Did God really say that? Come on take a bite.” Satan is the author of all confusion and the Holy Spirit brings us back to clarity of focus, which leads to accuracy of response.
Scripture Clarity in the Midst of Confusion: John 16: Jesus had more to share with His disciples, more than they could handle. He speaks of the gift that keeps on giving: The Holy Spirit. I will often say that the Holy Spirit is my virtual assistant because He guides me into details of life I often forget due to overload. So what’s the role of the Holy Spirit? A big one as mentioned by Jesus is that He will bring glory to Jesus by taking what directly flows from Jesus and make it known to us. John 16 is an invitation for us to deepen our ability to rely on, lean into God’s presence in our life (v 24) so our joy is complete. In verse 25 Jesus will clearly speak to us and pull us out of our confusion as we ponder our identity and purpose: Who am I? Why am I here? What will it matter?
Reflect:
Read John 16: 29:30: What moves the disciples into the belief that Jesus came from God? Reflect on Jesus ability in these Sacred Scriptures to bring clarity to their confusion through wisdom (The Holy Spirit)…the disciples were confused.
Read John 16:19-24 and John 16:29. How specifically did Jesus bring clarity in the midst of the disciple’s confusion? When has the Holy Spirit brought clarity to you in the midst of your confusion?
Identify & Adjust:
What fuels confusion in your life? Identify a specific area or situation in your life that you are experiencing confusion around and ask yourself the following questions:
- Have I specifically invited the Holy Spirit into this situation and surrendered my will to God’s will? If not, then I will right now in this present moment.
- How does this situation that I am giving power over to that is throwing me into confusion align with what I value most in life?
- What resources do I have available to help me gain clarity? What resources do I need to gather to myself to help bring about more clarity?
Integrate/Take Action:
Confusion breeds anxiety. Anxiety is your body’s response to your thought life. The tension and confusion you feel in your body is the result of giving more authority to outside circumstance than to God’s power and wisdom within you (1 John 4:4). Moving forward into your life, make a deliberate choice to practice transferring the knowledge you have gained in this Bible Study into your daily actions. Focus on 3 key pieces of knowledge revealed to you by the Holy Spirit that you will take action on to bring clarity in the midst of your confusion. Read Romans 12:1 and John 16:33, as you invite the Holy Spirit into your thought life and give Him Permission to evict those serpent thought forms that are trashing your interior castle and throwing you into confusion, erase and replace with Sacred Scripture. Jesus has told us all of these things contained in John 16…why? So we can have peace and joy in this world in the midst of trouble and confusion. Invite the Holy Spirit inside the perceptions that are throwing you into confusion: “Holy Spirit clear out my confusion and replace it with clarity around the person God is calling me to be and the direction He desires me to go. Reveal my next forward action step so that I can move out of the dark and interior the light of clarity. Give me simplicity of action and thought so that I can run and not grow weary, walk and not faint for you are the God of clarity, peace and joy, have your way with me in spite of my confusion and doubt. I give you permission to override the fog in my mind and replace it with still waters and simple forward action steps that bring honor and glory to your name.”
Thank you Melissa for joining us on our Podcast Today:
Resource Materials from Melissa Overmyer on Clarity:
http://www.melissaovermyer.com/single-post/2017/02/22/doors
Surround yourself with people who make you a better person in life
Edge God In Podcast Week 11: Clarity in the Midst of Confusion
1 Thing that Blocks Your Ability to Tune into God’s Will
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