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Podcast Transcripts

43: What Can Challenges Teach You?
Thursday, November 25, 2021 by Lyvita Brooks

 

Please enjoy this podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Although efforts were made in editing, this transcript may include a few typos. It’s difficult to catch some minor errors. Enjoy!

Saints, sometimes the best laid plans can cause you to have the worst week, ever. I prioritized and scheduled my activities with detail on to my digital calendar. Then enjoyed life. Took my Saturday Sabbath. Began working on that Sunday.

Well one thing lead to another, and even though I planned with God, He altered my steps…or maybe I did…or maybe I wasn’t listening in the first place and just slowly got off track.

My last three weeks went from well planned to cascading down a waterfall of confusion. And yet, I found my greatest accomplishments within that ride.

Mistakes, failures, bloopers, upsets, and defeats are not negative in Christ, they are stepping stones to making you stronger for the battles ahead and give experiences to help others grow. Thank God, I saw the upside to all that confusion before it suck me under.

Let’s talk about it…This is episode 43.

The Introduction

This is Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast. The place where we help you develop spiritual disciplines, which create space, for you to grow in love with God, your neighbor as yourself. Life can get messy affecting your joy and passion for the things of Christ. It’s through instilling some basic disciplines into your daily lifestyle that can keep you focused and grounded in your faith. And here is the place you can learn to do just that.

Well Hello Saints! I’m Lyvita, your host of Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast and founder of The Me Project Academy, on a mission to equip and encourage believers to do the work God’s called you to do, with boldness and courage as you stand for Christ in a fallen world.

If you are new to this podcast…WELCOME! And consider subscribing so you can receive resources to help you live a more disciplined life that has meaning. And for the Saints of Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast who regularly listen in…thanks. I truly appreciated your support and hearing how this podcast has been a blessing to you.

So stop what you are doing and come walk with me, where we intentionally practice being in the presence of God.

Saints, it’s time to hang out with Jesus and me, Lyvita.

3:53 – Let’s pray…

A Moment of Inspiration

5:22 - Before I begin, I just want to remind you that, as a follower of Christ, discipline of Christ, a believer, your life is hid in Christ therefore, we can’t analysis our ups and downs under the same principles as the world.

5:45 - My mother passing caused a shift in my life goals. Christ Jesus kept my heart from falling apart. Gave me the strength to go to work without losing it and taught me that keeping our regular quiet time and bed time routine, even if it looked different, those spiritual disciplines of prayer, listening, silence and reading the Bible are the staples in my life that kept Him and me together.

6:31 - One thing I learned from my mother during this time is that my next steps, during the rest of my journey is to keep this before me…quitting is not an option.

6:47 - I share this because sometime we need reminders of who we are. Yes we are a nation of people, Christians, and we are a powerful nation that kind of resembles our fellow Israelites who were in the desert for 40 years. You know: Sold out for Jesus one moment, but when times get tough started worshipping other things.

This is why it is so important to stay in the Word of God, pray and listen, and hang around people who can encourage you to be faithful. This way when you go out into the world you can draw others to Christ without stumbling all the time and it keeps you from comparing.

Jesus customarily went to pray. Then He was better able to deal with the masses. Cause ya’ll know folks can be difficult. Now that’s a discipline we all need to follow. Jesus’ ministry soared because He kept God first and everything else, family, ministry, etc., came after that.

8:15 - So let’s continue these disciplines of prayer and silence because it is also a discipline that helps us analysis our ups and downs according to God’s standards and not the worlds. It keeps us grounded.

 

Three Weeks Of Confusion

8:55 - Well, my last three weeks was full of splashing around in a river of confusion all because a thought disrupted my flow. I said to my Father, God our Creator, “Lord, I retired to write. When am I going to write?”

9:25 - Ok, don’t laugh because we have all been through something similar, where a ridiculous thought took us off course. Only to realize later, that it was the best thing.

10:39 - You see, I am taking a course called eblog Academy with Ruth Soukup so I could learn how to be a better blogger for the lyvitabrooks.com/blog. Well, that caused me to go in the wrong direction because it was about starting a blog business. Now why would God put me through this? He knew that it was going in the wrong direction so why did I believe it was so right?

11:25 - It was better than right. I learned something about myself that I don’t think I’d learn any other way. God’s been telling me for the last year to do one thing at a time to completion. Well, I breezed through the first part of this course, ending it before the recommended time. Then went into the next section of the course and breezed through that, because my ego got the best of me. You see I couldn’t get behind… I was doing so well.

Slow Down

12:25 - If I had taken the time with God to listen, not speak. Just listen. I would have heard Him say, “Slow down”. This is why the third part of this course became a tragedy. It was like I said, “God I got this.” And y’all I messed up everything. And yet I learned so much about me and my relationship to God and what He wants to do with this podcast and The Me Project Academy.

13:30 - Well let me tell you this. After splashing around in that river of confusion. I finally came up …It was like all the confusion, doubts, frustrations, feelings of being overwhelmed ran off me. It was so clear. “I am a writer who is writing.”

14:13 - You see I was looking at my writing experience with narrow lens, but God’s lens are bigger than mine, ours. I’m in this class to learn more than blogging, but how to run a more focused-minded business so that I am not all over the place trying to satisfy the need to do everything that comes into my head.

14:40 - You know what I’m talking about Saints? Today you have one idea and you try to work it out in your mind, while ignoring the fact that you should be working on the task that is before you, but while you are working on that new idea, another one pops in and before you know it, the phone is ringing, and the email as dinged and you actually have gotten nothing done that moves you forward. It just kept you in the same spot.

15:59 - Saints, I am and always will be a writer, but it’s time to branch out. And realizing that my blog was the beginning of me learning about the blogging world.

16:42 - I share this experience to motivate you to spend time with God, instead of looking at your situation according to what the world says, begin to see it through God’s lens because He has a vital mission for you to accomplish. And Slow Down, listen! Stop sharing what you think. I allowed my ego to overshadow what I knew was right. That was wrong of me. Listening…that’s a skill we all need to practice more.

Impact of Developing Spiritual Disciplines

17:45 - My saving grace in all this is that throughout my growth as a believer God has engrained in me certain spiritual disciplines to practice. They are so a part of me until I feel incomplete without them. This feeling kicked in caused it lead me to cascading down into my own self-sufficiency instead of relying of God.

God Plans

18:55  - I find that creating space for God is simply planning. We plan our lives. We schedule stuff. Think about it. God didn’t just show up in Genesis 1:1 to create before He had a plan. Think about it: He made light before water, before grass, before man. Look at how God spoke things into being. He had to have had a plan. Just think if He rolled up on the earth while it was without form and void and said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation.” Saints, God had a plan before He created the heavens and earth.

20:15 - Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Therefore, God also has plans for us. He designed us to complete these plans that’s why He tells us in Matthew 6: 33, to seek His kingdom first and His righteousness because not only is He going to take care of our needs but also fulfill His plans in our lives.

20:40 - Which I must add, He gives us the chose on rather we will follow Him and His plans or not. And yet, the best laid plans, if not planned with Him, is a waste a time.

20:55 - Saints, I know this probably isn’t the Thanksgiving episode you were looking for but… it’s time to really think about doing what God’s called you to do whole heartedly.

21:50 - The Christian nation, similar to the Israelites, are unique groups of people because of the God we serve. When God was taking care of their needs, they were happy, but when they began looking at others and becoming fearful, they lost sight of God and began sinning. It’s time to grow out of that. It’s time to begin focusing more on seeking the kingdom of God, first and His righteousness than our own or trying to be who we were never designed to be.

 

Following Christ

22:34 - Some of us aren’t afraid to do what God’s called us to do…just lazy. Others have put everything including the cleaning of the kitchen sink as high priority or an excuse for not following the path God has set before them. And yet there are others, who do not see the glamour in living God’s way so they reject Him. Saints, enough, is enough. You know what the world has to offer, and it all ends in destruction. Life is in Christ, not things that you have to get a lawyer for to keep or cameras on 24/7. No. Life is in Christ. If only, you’d/ I’d/ we’d do it His way. Be the Believers He’s called us to be…

24:28 - My heart ache’s at the number of believers who have chosen to not follow Christ fully or at all because of fears, doubts, and misunderstandings. I offer a suggestion.

25:03 - It came about during prayer early this year. God impressed on my heart how so many believers have gifts and talents they aren’t using and ideas for businesses and ministries that are idle. They need support to get them started.

God used my cascading to bring me to the point of clearly understanding what He wanted me to do and how. Now that’s growth, y’all.

25:55 - Here is where I come in. Here is where my destiny meets up with yours, if you believe God’s given you a gift, talent, business idea, or ministry that you are feeling overwhelmed about doing or lackadaisical, then join me on January 9th for fasting and prayer.

The Planner to purchase for The Fortified Program.

Fortified Coaching Program

26:46 - I’d like to teach you how to start your year off being guided by God in order to use what He’s given to you in order to plan your year. We will spend two months conversing through weekly office hours, inspiration through audio and a FaceBook group supporting each other and growing in this process.

27:21 - You’d have to sign up first, for the Fortified Coaching Program and purchase The Strategic Planner in order to participate. This program was designed with you in mind because seeking God’s kingdom first and His righteousness is what we provide for you. Then show you how to use that knowledge to guide you through out the year using a system that incorporates planning strategically, like an athlete plans for the race, so that you can fulfill the calling on your life and run a successful and prosperous race, according to God’s direction for your life.

28:20 - I’ve put the link to the Fortified Coaching Program and The Strategic Planner into the show notes. Saints, this is the first time this program is being offered. So don’t wait for 2023, let’s do this together now because souls need to know about Christ and God’s given you the tools necessary to allow for Him to bring about a two-fold increase. One for you and others. Don’t let your gifts grow dull. God’s designed you to reach a specific group of people so don’t think what you have isn’t needed. It is!

29:40 - Go to themeprojectacademy.com and sign up for the Fortified Coaching Program. It’s also on my website lyvitabrooks.com/themeprojectacademy.

29:55 - There is a lot going on over here at Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast, because that’s what we do Hang Out With Jesus. This has caused me to do some adjustments.

Conclusion

30:18 - Last episode I told you to go to themeprojectacademy.com and sign up with The Spiritual Assessment Checklist. Well that checklist has been revised and is not called, “Are you ready for the new year?” I also shared about The Me Project Planner, well it’s now called The Strategic Planner. It’s all good and sometimes you have to cascade in order to come up with clarity.

30:33 - Saints, my goal is to equip and edify you into doing the work that God’s called you to do. Let’s get prepared for 2022 together. So go to themeprojectacademy.com now to begin the journey with me. And I encourage you to invite another person. This way you can encourage each other.

30:51 - There is one thing I am clear about…God has given each of us a purpose and mission to complete in our life time. We are each born for such a time as this.

31:05 - Prayer

Now until we meet again over the airwaves, intentionally and daily, hang out with Jesus.

Shalom!



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