Gems from the Crown Archives - Page 7 of 11

September 30, 2015 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart…Where?

In my walk this morning, I was praying for God to increase the joy in my life and the joy in my family. I started asking the Lord what some of the things are that will release joy in our lives. (After all, joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit already living inside of us.)

God showed me four things. I am sure there are more, but these are the ones He showed me during my time with Him on my walk.

Thankfulness
Child-like faith
Relationship
Obedience

Let’s start with obedience. When you know you are guilty of doing something wrong, you cannot have joy. That includes not doing something you know God has told you to do. Disobedience brings guilt. Guilt brings condemnation. The Holy Spirit does not bring condemnation (He brings conviction) but guilt does. When we are feeling guilty, joy is going to be missing from our lives. This seems pretty obvious here in black-and-white, but not so much in our day-to-day living. When we repent and receive forgiveness, that guilt is washed away. When we are in obedience, there is a fullness of joy that comes with it. Our conscious is clean before God, and that lightness in our hearts has a natural result of joy.

How about child-like faith? Well, fear is the opposite of faith. And yet they both come from the same root emotion – how we feel about the unknown. It is a choice in our perspective. We choose whether we are going to have fear or faith in what we cannot see. Fear brings torment. If we are walking in fear and playing out all the scenarios in our minds about what might, or can, or probably will go wrong, then obviously we do not have joy in our hearts. Fear, anxiety, and worry not only brings mental anguish, but also brings health issues into our lives. We need to remind ourselves that perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).

As believers in the Risen Christ, we are to walk by faith, and not by sight. When we choose fear, we cannot have the fruit of joy operating in our lives. If we are walking in faith, child-like faith that our Daddy is taking care of us and taking care of what we can’t see, no matter how bad the situation is, we will be in freedom and joy. I am handing it all over to Him, and releasing it to Him, which means it is no longer my burden, and it is up to Him to take care of and fix. Child-like faith doesn’t mean I am going to get my way. It means Hs is going to do what is right in the big picture, and believe me when I say I know first-hand how extremely painful that can be at times. But God has never entered a battle and come out the loser. He is always victorious, so I know that in Him, I will be victorious also, which gives me joy! It releases in me a child-like awe and wonderment. I am free to go about my life, believing things are going to be okay, which brings joy.

Let’s move on to number three, relationship. Relationships involve emotions. Yes, I know joy is not an emotion like happiness, and yet joy definitely affects our emotions. When you have a great relationship with someone, it brings joy to your very soul. Guess what? When you have a great relationship with God, it brings joy to your very soul. We all know great relationships take work. It takes a purposeful effort to spend time together, whether it is a person, or your Father in heaven, because life gets busy. So spending time in His Word to hear from Him, spending time in prayer talking to Him, and spending time in worship, which brings His very presence into our personal world, are all ways to grow in your relationship with God. And the better our relationship with God, the deeper the joy it releases in our lives.

Then there is the issue of thankfulness. We know thankfulness lifts our hearts. Many of us get so stuck in the rut of living, that we forget how blessed we are. Taking time to sit and list out the things we have to be thankful for, both in our minds and on paper, brings joy to our hears because it opens our eyes and gives us a renewed revelation of the good things God has brought into our lives. Focusing on the negative brings darkness. Focusing on the positive brings light. Light shatters the darkness and heaviness, allowing joy to break through.

I would like to share something taken from my book When Tragedy Strikes: Rebuilding Your Life With Hope and Healing After the Death of Your Child.

It is no secret the enemy works overtime to keep us from walking in joy. Why would he be so determined to steal my joy? Because God’s joy is my strength. And I don’t mean my joy in Him, I mean His joy in me. Most of us are familiar with Nehemiah 8:10, “…the joy of the Lord is your strength.” In the English language (hang in here with me, now) the word “of” is a preposition. If I were to say, “This view of the ocean is our favorite,” I would be referring to the ocean’s view, right? If I were to say, “The book of Kevin’s is lost,” I would be referring to Kevin’s book, right? Well, if the joy of the Lord is my strength, I see it referring to the Lord’s joy, not mine!

When the Holy Spirit first showed me this, it was a huge relief! I don’t have to manufacture or make sure I have joy (based on my love or my happiness in God) to have strength. My strength comes from knowing He is crazy in love with me! Wow! (Remember Zephaniah 3:17, how He is rejoicing over us with gladness and singing?) His joy over me is what makes me strong. His joy about me creates joy in me. Now there is a seed of hope to plant in your life for sure!

Literally right in the middle of writing this blog, there was a situation I became overwhelmed with a heaviness that brought me to tears. I had to stop and take a dose of my own medicine, and force myself to do these four things myself. I can say they really truly work!

Gems from the Crown is a weekly blog to strengthen and encourage believers in Christ in their walk with God. If you would like to receive Gems from the Crown delivered directly to you, please click here.

September 23, 2015 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

How Can I Make Sure God is on My Side?

I do not want God to be working against me! And yet I am amazed at how often I forget this and allow a specific sin, which causes this very thing, to dominate either a situation I find myself in, or a brief moment that flashes past me.

What is it that causes God to oppose me? James 4:6 tells us “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” This is extremely serious, and even scary!

We are told to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). And yet humility is something that is so very hard to learn. I have said for years there will never be a book titled “How I Became Humble.” (And if there is, it probably isn’t worth reading!) So how can we learn to shed our pride and walk in true humility?

This subject may seem to be contradicting the blog I wrote recently, Yes, It IS About Me. But actually, that blog was dealing with pride as well – in the area of false humility, which has its root in pride. Our false humility happens because we are so wrapped up in spiritual pride that we parrot how “it’s all about God”, and absolutely “nothing is about me”, missing the point that if absolutely nothing is about me, then God would have no interest in me or have a plan for my life.

Before I jump fully into this subject, let me say I am definitely not even close to an “expert” in this area. The Holy Spirit seems to be constantly revealing my heart to me, showing me areas I still yield to this ugly fruit of my flesh as the motivation behind my actions.

Conquering the Game of Control by Craig Green is a book I read a few years ago that was a huge eye opener in this area. For me, it was one of those rare life changing books, which I highly recommend. I can’t even begin to share the many ways it affected me, but one of the main things it did was to give me a revelation of how ugly the sin of pride is, and how scary it is to have it activated in my life. Satan is at the root of all pride, and when I walk in this sin, it is activating the work of the enemy in me and through me to others. I realized I want nothing to do with being this channel of evil to those around me.

But saying and desiring that, and actually living it out on a daily basis, are two different things. We can all relate to Paul in Romans 7:14-16. “… I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.” (MSG).

I have come to realize that every sin has its root in pride. Think about any sin, and keep tracing back the motive behind it, and eventually you will come to the sin of pride. It is about ourselves, and what “I” want, about how “I” feel, about how “I” know better than someone else (including God) on how something should be done or not done, etc. It is the original sin, both with Satan and mankind through Eve, so it makes sense that it is the root of all sin.

So how do we uproot pride in our lives? The key is found in James 4:10. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” (NLT).

Have you ever noticed humility is not one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit? According to James, it is something we have to choose to do to ourselves…hmm…interesting.

It is important to make a distinction between humility and humiliation. The first one is what I do myself, and the second one is what is done to me because of the issue of pride in my life. “Pride precedes destruction; an arrogant spirit gives way to a nasty fall.” (Proverbs 16:18 VOICE)

When we walk in pride, we open the door for humiliation. But when we humble ourselves in our very spirit and soul, we begin to walk in a way that allows God to honor us. This is totally mind-boggling and amazing!

Walking in humility is learning how to allow God’s Spirit living inside of me to be in charge, making sure my soul and my body (my own thoughts, will, emotions, and desires) are lined up under my spirit. It is living a spiritually balanced life. And it is done by living a life of submission, dying to my own wants and desires, and coming alive to His wants and desires for me (which I think we can all agree, is always better.)

Our church is in a twenty day consecration period of prayer and fasting. I would like to share with you what was written for day seventeen, as a great example of someone who was honored as he humbled himself before Jesus.

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” – Matthew 17:14-16

What a great example of humility: this man approached Jesus and knelt before Him in the midst of a crowd. As the father approached, he believed that Jesus would bring his son relief. But even in his belief, his approach was humble and submitted to what Christ would choose to do.

Looking further into the story, we find the father was also persistent and resisted taking offense. Though the disciples were not able to help him, he set aside his temporary disappointment in their failure and continued to seek after Jesus – the solution to his circumstance, the source of relief through his trial.

Being humble before God is realizing our need of Him, submitting to His will, pursuing Him, and being confident the outcome will occur in God’s perfect timing.

Be encouraged that approaching God with a heart of humility will always position you to find relief in Jesus. Don’t be ashamed to humble yourself before God, even in the presence of others. Though offenses and disappointments may come, continue in your pursuit of Jesus. You may not get relief right away, but know this: God is never late and His solution is always perfect!

Another great example in the Bible of someone God honored, because of humbling himself, is Daniel. In Daniel 10:12 we read the words of an angel who appeared to him. “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.” (NIV)

All through the scriptures, we see that whenever a person or a nation made the choice to humble themselves before God, God honored them and moved on their behalf. This is another great reason to learn how to humble ourselves.

It is all based on what is in our heart. And I am ashamed to admit it, but way too often I am good at faking it, looking all humble on the outside, but having prideful and arrogant thoughts on the inside. And that is where it counts…on the inside where God sees…and I don’t think I am the only one.

Holy Spirit, help us. We know we need to humble ourselves, but we need You to give us the desire, and to point out to us our prideful actions and thoughts, so we can crucify and die to our ugly pride, and humble ourselves so that we live in a greater measure of Your grace (Your Divine power, and enablement). In the wonderful and mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Gems from the Crown is a weekly blog to strengthen and encourage believers in Christ in their walk with God. If you would like to receive Gems from the Crown delivered directly to you, please click here.

September 9, 2015 by Laura Diehl Leave a Comment

Are You in a Surprising Time of Transition?

I can’t even begin to tell you how many people I know who have either recently been, or are right now, hanging in limbo while in a place of transition.

They know they have completed a season in their life (most of them being shocked with this information, thinking they were in a life-long calling, job, or ministry) but not knowing yet where God is taking them.

I had this exact experience a year ago. I cried for several days when I was blind-sided by the realization God was calling me out from a ministry I had been a part of for a full decade, and was deeply involved in leadership, (including international traveling and being the first administrator of its correspondence school). I knew I was to step out fully into becoming Crown of Glory Ministries, but had no idea what that was, much less how to do it.

I recently had an exchange of messages on this exact subject of surprise transitions with a young lady I have had the blessing of imparting into spiritually for a few of her childhood years.

Friend: Hi Laura,

I am in need of some spiritual advice/guidance and I was hoping that you might be willing to help

Me: What’s up?

Friend: We feel that God has asked us to do something but we are second guessing ourselves. There are signs and things that God has shown (my husband). He has given him a dream, but I guess we haven’t been “hit upside” the head with a direct answer. I don’t want to delay with God because his timing is always right. Why are we second guessing? Dreams are a sign from God.

I hope that makes sense. I don’t know if I’m/we are waiting for a sign “to go”.

Me: Well, my experience is to take a step of faith. If it is the wrong step or the wrong timing, as long as you are seeking God, He will be faithful to either cause you to lose your peace, or put up a road block. He is a loving Father, and if you are wanting to follow what He has for you or is instructing you to do, then He is going to guide you as you step out in the process.

Friend: Thank you. God gives us desires for a reason and I know he speaks in dreams. It’s just this is a big big leap of faith and it’s a little scary. Everything seems to be lining up but then I put a “but” in there and think well maybe it’s a stretch. I just keep hearing here are the crossroads…walk out…

Me: If it’s bigger than you, chances are pretty good that it’s God! And I agree those big leaps of faith can be scary.

Friend: Thank you so much! Between you and me, God has asked us to… (she told me the specifics, which I do not have permission to share publically).

Me: Wow girl! That is pretty big… So do you have a peace about it? Has God confirmed it.to you personally? Something like that you both need to be in 100% agreement on. If you have any doubts, the enemy can use it as a wedge between you when you hit any rough patches of pushing this through.

I believe if you are in agreement and step out to do it, even if you missed God in faith He will use it to do big things!

Friend: Well, we just got “smacked in the face” this morning spending time with God. haha now we just need to know exactly when. Thanks for listening and all your advice.

Me: You are more than welcome. I feel blessed you would reach out to me in this way. Love you and am praying for you. Ask God for divine connections and divine appointments. I have been amazed at what God does and how He leads me in that way!

Friend: How do we know when to go? We have been praying and fasting. Is God just going to give us a date? Or is going to be like Gideon and the fleece? We feel like we are at an impasse. Do we wait for a job do we go believing? I know he wants us to go and he would supply all we need but what if it’s not his timing? I don’t want to start feeling discouraged.

Does that make sense?

Me: Transitions are really hard. You know you are done where you are, but have not been shown details of where you are going. I personally think you are in that waiting period. It feels like you are hanging in limbo and should be doing something but not sure what. There is almost always a waiting time…I suggest just keep praying for divine connections and keep networking and eventually you will see a path open up.

I am happy to say doors opened for this young lady almost immediately, and they are well on their way to fulfilling the dream and calling given to them by God.

I am also thrilled to share that God has so graciously given me the foundation to Crown of Glory Ministries, and He even helped me write a book about it, titled Triple Crown Transformation. He has been faithfully guiding me since then, and it feels like what He has put in me is now exploding out of me!

But that didn’t mean my transition time is over. A few days ago, my husband came home early from work, letting me know that after 27 years with his company, they are “downsizing”, so his specific IT management position was being eliminated… effective immediately. So here we are, in another transition. We have no idea at this point what God has planned for him next. But not only do we have a peace about it, we are excited to discover what the new season is for us with this change.

It is all about our thoughts and mindset. We see things the way we choose to see them, based on what is in our heart. If we have learned to trust God in the past, we have the foundation to continue to trust Him with our future.

Are you in a transition in your life right now? If not, get ready, because at some point (probably fairly soon) you will be. Trust God to lead you through, even if you don’t know where it is taking you. Make a choice to refuse to be anxious or worry, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you enjoy the trip!

September 2, 2015 by Laura Diehl 2 Comments

How Important is it to Know God’s Perfect Will?

One day I got to thinking about “finding God’s good, better, and perfect will” for my life. I realized that if God created someone specifically for me to marry, I probably missed it.

You see, I was enrolled to go to Northwestern Christian College, which is where I would have/should have met my husband, right? I ended up getting pregnant my summer out of high school, and didn’t go to college. I met my husband Dave shortly after that, and we got married when my little one was 2 years old. He adopted her, and we eventually had 4 more children.

OK… so… was Dave the man God made specifically for me, or not? Did God cause (or allow) the pregnancy to make sure I stayed home to meet him? If I hadn’t stayed home because of being pregnant and gone on to college, how would God have kept me from falling in love with and marrying the “wrong” person, and gotten me to come back home to meet Dave?

Maybe God’s original “perfect” plan was that I was supposed to go off to college, come back after 4 years, meet Dave, and get married a year or two later (but my getting pregnant and staying home just sped up the process). Although in actuality, Dave would not have been around by then because he was offered a job to work for the Pentagon after college, which he didn’t take because we were dating and he decided he wanted to stay put and ask me to marry him. So, if he had not met me and taken the job, would God have brought him back here somehow for us to meet?

OR does that mean my sin and getting pregnant caused me to not go to the college where I should have met the man God made just for me, and Dave was actually God’s Plan B for my life? So that caused Dave to miss the woman created for him to marry by not going out to DC, which means I was also God’s Plan B for him?

And now there is a woman who was created for Dave that is living out God’s Plan B for her life, and the man I was supposed to marry is also living out God’s Plan B for his life, since I never went to college to meet him. That also means the woman my “perfect Plan A” husband eventually married, is also living out God’s Plan B because she married a man who was created for me to marry, but I missed it. Do you see how crazy this can get?

If that were the case, it would mean my entire adult life has been lived outside of God’s perfect will for me because I missed marrying the man He created for me whom I probably should have met at Northwestern Christian College! It would mean my children and grandchildren are alive on this earth because I missed God’s perfect plan for my life.

I have come to learn from our teacher, the Holy Spirit, that so often we put too much pressure on ourselves to find God’s “perfect” will for our lives, forgetting the blessing He gave us of free will to choose!

The person you marry is your choice, with the only requirement not to be unequally yoked spiritually. If you are in love with God and walking out your relationship with Him, He will direct you in a choice that will be a wonderful life-long partner, best friend, lover, and soul mate for you. (I am quite happy to say that is the blessing I have!) If you don’t bring Him in on your choice, there will probably be things in your marriage that will be much rougher than it would have been with God’s guidance, but once you are married, God can still work in your life within the choice you made!

In so many circumstances we pressure ourselves to figure out the exact choice of God’s absolute perfect will, like which job to take? I believe most of the time He is saying, “I gave you a free will for a reason! Pick the one you want, and I will work in your life within that choice!” Does He already know what we will choose? Yes, of course, but He gives us free will to make those choices.

Are there times He has something specific for us? Yes, I fully believe so, and if we are seeking Him, He will guide us in the necessary direction.

But to say God has created one specific person for each of us to marry is not scriptural, and it adds tons of pressure to find him or her. It also puts false expectations into a marriage of how wonderful and easy it is going to be, and when things get rough, we can start to question whether or not we married that Plan A person created just for us. (And what if something horrible happens, like our spouse has an affair? God knew that was going to happen, and yet that is the person He created specifically for me to marry?)

What about the unsaved? Does God create a specific mate only for Christians, and the unsaved are left in the dark to marry whomever they want? Or are they forced to use luck to find that one person, since they don’t have God directing them?

I can’t imagine anyone more perfect for me than Dave. God has so wonderfully given us the desires of our hearts in each other! But I don’t believe God is honoring that because He created Dave with the specific purpose of being my husband, or vice versa. It is because we allowed God to help us choose each other over 30 years ago, and we continue to choose each other throughout this life, staying committed to God and to each other in our marriage.

If you are struggling with a choice, and have been waiting for God to reveal His perfect will, I encourage you to use the blessing of choice, and choose a direction based on what you prefer. Then take a step in that direction, continuing to seek Him for guidance. If it is something He does not want for you, He will be faithful to let you know in some way. At that point, you can stop and take a different direction. If it truly is a matter of God saying, “Pick what you want, and I will work in you through that choice” then taking that step means you will be on your way with His blessing.

How about you? Is there a time you can look back and see where God allowed you to choose?

August 26, 2015 by Laura Diehl 2 Comments

Do You Lack Joy in Your Prayer Life?

There are Christians who have strong opinions about what our prayer time should look like. I have come to realize that if I spent my time praying for what everyone else tells me I need to pray for, I would hardly ever leave my prayer room!

Someone who has a heart and anointing for missions will tell us we need to pray for missionaries daily. Someone who has a burden and calling for evangelism will tell us we need to pray for the unsaved every day. Others will try to open our eyes to the burden of praying daily for our schools and the students in them, or the government, or tell us we need to get more serious about spiritual warfare in our daily prayers, or pray a specific scripture every day.

And it doesn’t end there. We are told by those who are early risers that it is best to get up early to spend time in prayer. (Yes, I know the Psalms refer to that.) Some offer their thoughts about how much time we should spend in prayer each day (at least an hour, right?). And don’t forget to make your prayer list…

It often seems that since we can’t meet all these requirements put on us by the spiritual people around us, we pretty much give up on being able to do it right, and find ourselves fighting a heaping load of discouragement. And instead of being excited about spending time with the One who is head-over-heels in love with us, we allow ourselves to come under condemnation of what others say we should be praying about, which often causes us not to set time aside to pray at all.

Prayer itself is not supposed to be a burden. It is simply communication between God and the human beings He created and loves; with a deep love more than our finite minds can comprehend.

God used the darkest circumstance in my life to set me free in this area. I wrote about it in my book When Tragedy Strikes.

For me personally, over the years it has been easy to feel guilty in my quiet time with the Lord. I am either not following someone else’s pattern, or I’m not doing what I have been told by other Christians I should be doing. I “should” be reading my Bible for thirty minutes every day, or I “should” be on my knees praying for an hour, etc.

But during this time of learning how to rest in God’s presence, I was actually set free from that kind of guilt. In trying to “just be” with God, I never followed any kind of formula. If I wanted to pray, I prayed. If I wanted to sleep, I slept (usually with “soaking” music that would surround me with His presence). If I wanted to cry, I cried. If I wanted to praise Him with my voice or by lifting my hands, that’s what I would do. If I wanted to spend time reading my Bible, I would open it and read. I learned to just have times of intimacy between myself and my Lord, and that has become a permanent part of my life.

I rest in the love of my God, and we spend time together, just the two of us in the privacy of my prayer room. I don’t let what others do, or what others insist all Christians should do, dictate the intimate time set aside to be with my God, nor do I feel a need to tell others what they should be doing in their time of intimacy with Him.

I have come to learn that when I spend my times of intimacy with the Lord being led by the Holy Spirit in this way, what I should pray for and how long I should pray is naturally taken care of.

Here are seven things I have learned over the years about prayer, which have greatly increased my desire for spending time in communication with my Father.

Don’t use what others tell you to pray for as your prayer guide. Ask God what He wants you to pray for.
Keep it simple. Just pray your own words from your own heart.
Don’t get caught up in loud or wordy prayers, thinking you have to get God’s attention. He came to Elijah in a still small voice, and it is okay to come to Him in the same way.
You don’t have to come to Him at the same time every day. There is much to be said for routine and discipline, but many of us don’t have that luxury (such as mothers of small children).
Don’t base the length of your prayer time on what others think it should be. Base it on your own needs and desires, which can change through the seasons of life.
If you are praying a promise from the Word of God, speak it out loud. There is power in the spoken word. Use “voice activation” to put the power of God’s Word at work in your life and those you love.
Realize the more time you spend with Him, the easier it is to hear Him speak to you.

Here is another excerpt from my book When Tragedy Strikes about the subject of prayer.

Thankfully, prayer is more than just time set aside every morning before starting your day, or a set gathering at church. Prayer is an ongoing conversation with God that can take place at any time, in any place. Talk to Him from your heart throughout the day, and then listen for His response. He is there, and He wants to be in communication with you. As you become more and more aware of His presence, you will occasionally hear Him initiate the conversation. You will be amazed at the healing that happens in those beautiful random moments of prayer.

When prayer is based in your own personal relationship with God, it becomes a joy. My relationship with my earthly father is different than my sister’s relationship with him. The same is true of our heavenly Father. As His children, we each have a unique relationship with Him, and our prayer life should be a reflection of that individual relationship.