What should I do?

Greetings Everybody,
This morning I want to discuss something that is on my heart.  


It has to do with deciding what to do about a situation...judging what is right to do...yes...this is about DISCERNMENT.


Here's the heart of the matter for me right now:
Sometimes I can not tell if God is leading me somewhere or if it is the evil one pretending to be God.


And this makes me second-guess myself sometimes. 


Sometimes I vacillate back and forth...should I do THIS thing or should it be THAT thing.


I pray for guidance and I pray for protection and I earnestly try to willingly & lovingly submit myself to HIS will in my life.


And I must say that MOST of the time I know exactly where I am in respect to His Will.


I know that because the Holy Spirit tweaks my heart a bit when I step out of His Will...and it causes me to want to get back on track.


Also, I know that I am filled with Joy when I am tuned in to what God wants me to do.


But the devil is so very sneaky sometimes.
And there are days when I can not easily discern if something is from God or from the evil one.


Jesus understood exactly how sneaky the devil is...he told his apostles...
" I  am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16


And the Apostle Peter wrote these words that are so very precious me...
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." I Peter 5:6-7


So here I am, trying to make decisions based on what I think GOD wants me to do.
But the evil one keeps putting up roadblocks.
He keeps tossing in bits of Pride and bits of Fear.


And what do we know about both of those things???


"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18


and 


"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." 
Isaiah 41:13


I know both of those scriptures and I claim them.
And I know that the New Testament tells us that we as Christians have the duty to discern wisely and to judge rightly.


"Do you not know that God's people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!  
1 Corinthians 6: 2-3


So here's what I know:
Pride issues are NOT from God.
Fear issues are NOT from God.
Those things are from the evil one.


Therefore, if I work through this thing spiritually and intellectually (yes you CAN do both of those things at once lol)...I find that my confusion is also NOT from God.


In the final analysis, all of my life decisions boil down to a few simple things found in Micah 6:8

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

There's my litmus test.

In all that I am contemplating doing:

Will I be able to

-act justly, 

-love mercy 

-and walk humbly with my God?

If the answer is NO...then I need to stop right there and go no further.

But If the answer is Yes to all 3 things, then I am free to move forward.

After that it is a matter of Faith

And a matter of God opening the doors he wants me to go through or closing them tight.

So there ya have it...

My internal monologue on "Discernment" as it applies to my ongoing life-decisions.

And all of that has lead me to this: Unless God intervenes in some way, it looks like tomorrow I will be applying for a an Administrative position at a Christian school.

And we will see what God has in store for me personally.

And we will see what God has in store for my hubby as well.

And we will see if God wants me to serve him in that capacity.

I am earnestly praying that He open the doors that He wants me to go through and that He close the ones that He does not want me to enter.

Father, Please:

Protect me/us,

Provide for me/us,

Prepare me/us, 

Purpose me/us,

and Position me/us.

In the meantime, and as we wait for His Will to be revealed in this matter...

"...But as for me and my household,we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

In Him

Grace

Handing It Over To Jesus_part 1

Greetings, (fyi...This post was actually written and held in draft form for several days. After I go ahead and post this one, I'll be sending out the update to this situation.)

Have you ever gotten upset over something and had that "upset-ness" try to take over your every thought?

Something like that happened to me this afternoon.

A young man said some extremely foul words, I wrote a referral, and when the parent was contacted by the assistant principal, the mom told the administrator that she wanted to talk to me.

The Administrator called me and asked me to call the mom.

I called her immediately.

The mom asked me to tell her what happened and exactly what I heard her son say.

I cautioned her that in order to do what she was requesting I would be saying vulgar words.

I asked her if she was sure that she wanted me to repeat what her son said.

She told me to do so.

I told her what I had seen and what I had heard.


And then...

She told me that her son did not talk like that. 

She told me that she had looked into his eyes, and she knew he was telling the truth.

She also told me that she wanted a meeting to get to the bottom of this. 

She basically called me liar, though she did not actually use that word.

(Just in case you are wondering...yeah the F-Bomb was one of the words the young man said.)

(And Just in case you are wondering that wasn't the only vulgarity uttered.)

I started replaying that conversation over and over in my head and was insulted and really upset by the whole situation.  It was poisoning my afternoon.  I was dwelling. And I was getting angry.

And then it hit me that Satan was being very present in this situation and that he was using the kid, the mom and my own mind against me.

Every morning I pray for Discernment. 

I ask God to be let me realize when The Evil One is working against me.

And I am so glad that I realized what was happening.

It took all of the pressure off the situation.

It took all the anger away.

It took away my anxiety about how Administration is going to handle this situation.

As I was driving home from school, I actually said out loud "Jesus please take this from me."

And He did.

My God is in control....not the evil one.

And I am HIS Child!

When ya stack that very angry momma up against God Almighty...she doesn't seem quite so menacing anymore.

My God is in control.

And I am HIS Child!

The rest of the day is going to be just fine now.

And so is tomorrow and the day after that.

God is in Control and NOTHING can change this truth.


Meanwhile I am claiming the following scriptures for Peace and Protection: 

Romans 8:38 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

John 16:33  "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good chear, for I have overcome the world." 


John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."


2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 


Hebrews 13:6  "So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."


1 Peter 3:12-14 "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled." 

In Him,

Grace