How Rivalry works to your advantage and how it speaks to me - A post from Lisa Bevere! Love it!

  It is funny how in your walk with Christ you find rivals along the way who judge you for your past, judge you for your present and throw jabs at you to continually compete and harrass you. Sadly some of them are ministry women themselves, They criticize the house you live in, criticize your looks and brag about how they are best friends with people you are close to and who speak into your life but they don't know that. 

I have found that as I continue moving forward I try to walk in love and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to me. I make every effort not to those individuals  get to me and allow the Holy Spirit oil to let those comments rub off and not let it become an offense.

Those rivals as Lisa Bevere calls them can be used to your advantage and I want to share her last letter she shared below:

"I was recently on the phone with a dear friend. I’ve always known her and her husband to be pure, humble, and compassionate, yet they’ve been through a lot recently. They’ve been maligned, rejected, and misjudged.

My friend explained, “They have slandered us to…” at which point she shared the names of a few key players. I listened. I understood. Then I lost track of what she was saying, because I no longer saw where they’d been or even what they were presently going through. I saw where the future would take them. I blurted out, “Good! You need to thank God for them. Their harsh treatment has made you into who you are today.”

Understand, it was not their mistreatment that I was celebrating; it was this couple’s response to the mistreatment that made me know their future was bright.

I have learned to be so incredibly thankful for the opposition of rivals in my life. Rather than quit and wallow in the despair of discouragement, I have learned to look back and see the repeated faithfulness of God. He carried me each and every time when I didn’t think I could go on another day. I have learned more about the faithfulness of God from my enemies than from my friends.

Friends will offer you shelter. Which is a good thing, but not necessarily a dynamic that fosters growth. Friends want to see you protected from the storms of life, while an enemy will do their best to lock you out in the pouring rain. But what if you are in a season when God wants you to learn that He is your ultimate shelter? Who is a better instructor: a rival or a friend?

Rivals are a fact of life. I know. Sorry. I don’t like it either, but it is true. And yet, rivals are not without purpose. Creating a life without rival is not about removing rivals from your life. Rather, it is about understanding that truly all things can work together for our good when we are called according to God’s purpose. We can use the dynamics of rivalry to spur us on to greater growth and insight.

If viewed correctly, rivals can serve as a catalyst, exposing our weaknesses and challenging us to develop our strengths. They push us beyond our limits and cause us to look up when we feel alone.

You are a daughter without rival in the eyes of God. This is how you should see yourself relationally with your Creator, and it is your vantage for how you relate to others. But we would be more than naïve if we pretended that rivalries didn’t exist and that the promises came to us without a battle. The proclamation “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14) does not negate the existence of darkness. Saying that you are a daughter without rival does not mean you will not encounter rivals any more than saying you are light means you will never face darkness.

You are filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the grave. Rivals want you to fight on their terms and in your own strength. You must be bigger than that. As children without rival, we do good when we are dealt evil. Ultimately this is not about our glory; it is all for His.

Rivals have the power to pull you out of obscurity or knock you out of your place of prominence. The good news is that you get to choose what they will produce in your life. Will your rival best you, or bring out the best in you?

We can argue our case, or we can lay it before God. We can whine, or we can thank God that He is using a rival to refine us and position us for our destiny. The choice is ours to make, and no rival can take that away from us."-Lisa Bevere "Without Rival"

This article came at the right time as I was challenged with my own sensitivity and allow the Holy Spirit to be my umpire. God's plan, His plan is sure and focusing on His will and purpose will outshine any demonic dart that people would try to throw at you at your family or your ministry. God is Bigger and Greater. His thoughts of Greatness shall be your thoughts. As you continue in God's path, Greatness is a sure thing. Obey Him at all costs and don't allow any person to minimize who you are! You are the daughter of the most High. you are Queen and Royalty! 

So next time the rivals of life try to throw a curve with their words mascarading as honey, Walk with your head high knowing that you have a place of prominence that no person or demon in hell can remove you from. Galatians 3:19 says "I've been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live but Christ lives in me, the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." 

You are HIS!!!! He lives on the inside of you and He is Greater. You are Great with HIM! I have been raised up! You have been raised up! "Ephesians 2:5,6,7 says that we have been raised up together with HIM.

You are Royalty! and no Rival can dethrown you from the place Christ put you in. You are loved!

When your Soul plays a trick on you!

Have you ever had moments where one time you feel like you are at the top of the world and the next day you are in the dumps. Well, we've all been there.
If you are a woman or man who has asked Jesus to be his or her Lord you have been transferred from darkness to light. You feel peace you feel clean!  Yeah! I am a born again believer!
But then years go by and you realize that there are those days....Days when not everything is sweet, and you begin to discover your mind, your will and your emotions sometimes feel not so Christian. thoughts come to your mind of how a dream will not ever happen, or your emotions feel hurt when a woman or man of God promise you something but don't follow through.  Or you get up in the morning and you don't feel like you want to get up. You are in traffic and someone cuts in front of you. What do you do?
Yes, we have been blood bought by Jesus but we have to deal with thoughts in our minds, feelings that change like the wind, and the willingness to stay disciplined in areas on a daily basis.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica:" And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Paul is referring to your soul be preserved blameless


What is the Soul? 

The soul is the three-part that combines  your mind (intellect) your will (your decision making) and your emotions  (what your feelings are).  Paul is saying to the church that he prays that these areas are being preserved. Let's start from The very God of Peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, He is our Peace. He can give us Peace in our hearts but we must let Him in. The New Living Translation says it like this:"Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
How do we let Him sanctify us and make us Holy. Completely! ?

The God of Peace must rule in our souls

 We must allow Peace to rule in our minds. How?  Remind yourself that when Christ came to live in your heart. Peace came. Your mind has to focus on His Peace. You have the mind of Christ. That thought of torment and that is contrary to who you are in Christ. He took that to the cross, He wore a crown of thorns that bled so much, so those thoughts that are not pure, holy or of good report would not dwell in your mind.  You are precious to Him that He took all that, so you can have a peaceful sound mind focusing on good things. Once you have accepted Christ in your heart, what you think then becomes a matter of choice. We must control our thoughts and what we reason., our reasonings must line up to what God thinks. "As He is.. so are WE in this world"
Our mindset must mirror God's. How do we do that? by reading The Bible and meditate on Him. Joshua 1:8 speaks that "This book of the Law shall meditate day and night. Meditate. Hmm....it means Think about it, ponder, Think Deeply about something.
Another scripture is on Philippians 2:5 "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus!" That means that my will is then involved in how I think and what I meditate on but I have to allow it. The scripture says Let. Allow your mind be Christlike.

Doing my own Thing

  God has given the human race a powerful tool. The power of choice. From the beginning Adam and Eve had the power to choose.  You and I have the tool and it is by choosing!!!! What do I want to think about to day? You have a choice to what to meditate on and requires a willingness and a decision to think!  Think what? Observe to do, that means in Joshua 1:8 it says so that you may observe to do!  that means choose how to act. The NIV version says .."so we may be careful to do everything in it"

Emotions

My feelings have a lot to do within the soul realm on how we act. Never trust your emotions they could fail you.  We must always line up our emotions with the Word of God. Galatians 5:22 tells us a lot about our emotions....
How?  The fruit of the Spirit are...Love, Joy, Peace, kindness, gentleness, meekness, self-control!!! Wow I feel convicted already!  How many times have we allowed our emotions to take over instead of our Spirit to bring Peace to our souls.

True Story

 There was a time that I had a disagreement with my husband over whether to go to Dallas while I was pregnant. My emotions were screaming at me that I wanted to go. My husband felt in his heart that it was not time to go to Dallas at the time. Boy,I am glad I chose to submit to him on this situation because I ended up in the hospital bedridden because I ended up in early labor. Imagine if I would have followed my feelings, gotten angry and resentful and not  do what my husband sensed in his heart.? We would have been stuck in Dallas with an astronomical medical bill and away from home. We must follow wisdom and not just emotion and not allow the soul to play tricks on me.

So next time you allow an emotion, a thought or a choice that is not lining up with God's wisdom and His Word, and your soul tries to play a trick, refuse it and make the choice to follow Peace so you can be sanctified completely Spirit, soul and body, and be preserved blameless...!