{"id":4480,"date":"2016-03-21T08:52:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T12:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/?p=4480"},"modified":"2016-03-22T22:20:57","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T02:20:57","slug":"i-still-believe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/2016\/03\/21\/i-still-believe\/","title":{"rendered":"I Still Believe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A fourth of the way into the year and I\u2019m assessing my state of belief. Like the State of the Union address, I\u2019m reporting in with myself on my current health, vitality and concerns regarding my state of belief.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For the last few years, I\u2019ve adopted one word that has served as my compass for the year. This year my word is BELIEVE. Go back and read that post when you get a chance by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/believe-my-oneword-2016\/\">CLICKING HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>To gauge where I am in my believing, I began by asking myself a few questions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><em>What would my life be like if I truly believed I could do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me?<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>Do I believe Christ can do ALL things?<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>Do I believe He\u2019s willing to do ALL things for me?<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>Do I believe I am worthy to receive ALL the things He wants to do in my life?<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>Am I prepared to receive the things I believe Him for?<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>Are the things I believe Him for in line with His Will and His Way?<\/em><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>So Jesus answered and said to them, \u201cHave faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, \u2018Be removed and be cast into the sea,\u2019 and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:22-24<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Man\u2026these questions will really get you thinking. I pray you spend some quiet time with the Lord, asking yourself these questions, listening to your heart\u2019s response then listening for what God has to say about it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Even though I&#8217;ve been a writer all my life, I&#8217;ve been hesitant to call myself a writer. Since I was a very little girl, writing was my way of escape. When I was in elementary school, a reading teacher introduced me to the wonderful world of journaling, and it\u2019s something I\u2019ve done ever since. I\u2019ve written in journals and diaries. I\u2019ve written short stories and poetry. I\u2019ve written for school newspapers, city publications and for a Fortune Top Twenty company. I\u2019ve got a degree in journalism. And I have the pleasure of writing in this sacred space on the web. Suffice it to say\u2026. I\u2019m a writer.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Almost 20 years ago the Lord has told me I would be a published author (and I wasn\u2019t even saved then). I\u2019ve got many notebooks over here filled with writing, layout, cover ideas and more for several books.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One day while having a waking vision, I saw my book cover unfolding before my eyes. My eyes went from the top of the cover and began to scroll down. I could see color, typeset, the title and as I came to the end, where the author\u2019s name would be, where I would read my OWN name, I abruptly stopped the vision. I aborted the vision God was writing right before my eyes. I allowed fear to keep me from SEEING what the Lord has in store for me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>NOT ANY MORE!<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[bctt tweet=&#8221;I will no longer abort the vision, I will abort the lies and BELIEVE.&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My husband and I were in a conversation recently and he was encouraging me to get a new laptop if I really wanted to be a writer. I quickly cleared that up, telling him I AM indeed a writer. And I agree in making the investment in myself so I will soon get a new laptop as the one I currently have has a cracked screen and 1\/3 of the screen is one big blotch through which I cannot see. The computer is also slow and has little memory. Yes I will invest and believe in what I\u2019ve been called to do.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I AM A WRITER.<\/p>\n<p>I AM A SPEAKER.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Not only is it the way God wired me, He\u2019s given me a double anointing in wiring me for writing and speaking and upon salvation giving me the gifts of exhortation and teaching. No way to escape it, I\u2019ve been called to encourage, exhort and challenge His people and the medium for that is writing and speaking.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So what now?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My believing is in alignment with His and I\u2019m aborting lies.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now what am I to do?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the prescription:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>~Assess Your Believing<\/h3>\n<h3>~Align Your Believing with His will<\/h3>\n<h3>~Act on what you believe<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>ASSESS. ALIGN. ACT.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>I will stand my watch<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>And set myself on the rampart,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>And watch to see what He will say to me,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>And what I will answer when I am corrected.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Then the Lord answered me and said:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cWrite the vision<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>And make it plain on tablets,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>That he may run who reads it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>For the vision is yet for an appointed time;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Though it tarries, wait for it;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Because it will surely come,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>It will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:1-3<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We see in these versus, he stood watch, assessing. He aligned by watching to see what the Lord would say and how he would answer once the Lord had corrected him. Then he went on to act by following the Lord\u2019s instructions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>ASSESS. ALIGN. ACT.<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If I am a writer, I must be disciplined and diligent in writing. Not only that, I have to write the words HE\u2019S calling me to write at this season. While I want to write about wellness (an area I feel very comfortable with), He\u2019s calling me to write about parenting (insert sigh. Really God?! This area is an ever moving target). But that\u2019s what He said so I must move forward in obedience.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So what are you believing God for?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m praying with you friends as you dare to believe God to do exceedingly and abundantly above what you can ask or think.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As always, it is my prayer that you\u2019ve been <em>Inspired To Live Fully<\/em>!<br \/>\nHappy to connect with friends sharing the Good News <a href=\"http:\/\/www.purposefulfaith.com\">Purposeful Faith<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.arabahjoy.com\">Grace &amp; Truth<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A fourth of the way into the year and I\u2019m assessing my state of belief. Like the State of the Union address, I\u2019m reporting in with myself on my current health, vitality and concerns regarding my state of belief. &nbsp; For the last few years, I\u2019ve adopted one word that has served as my compass [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[494,397,706,106,707,708,613],"class_list":["post-4480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-life","tag-belief","tag-believe","tag-believing","tag-faith","tag-write","tag-writer","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4480"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4484,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480\/revisions\/4484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}