A woman who reads his word, then applies it to her life. When you read “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.” (James 1: 19&20), a response is expected from you. That’s about YOU. It’s about how you have only been listening to speak. It’s about how you have been speaking before you process that thought. Girl, you can’t just say whatever is on your mind, because some of those thoughts need to be filtered out before they flow out. It’s about how you’ve been leading from frustration instead of love. It applies to you and action is required. God wants you to be a woman of action.
A woman who receives a prompting from his Holy Spirit, and does something about it. You know that little voice inside of you that says, “hey, you should reach out to that person”, or “this isn’t right in your life, it’s time to change it.” That’s God’s Spirit guiding your next steps. Now lift up your foot and step. Stop trying to make sense of it and trust God really does speak to you. He speaks to you because he wants you to be a woman of action.
Will you be the one God knows will go when he says go? Will you be the one who will be available when he prompts? Will you be the one who will respond in faith with actions over words? Or will you be the one who just sits there and talks about it? Will you be the one who complains about how things are today, but doesn’t do a darn thing to make it better in your own house? Will you be the one who is always too busy, always too unsure, and never quite good enough for the job? Hey, that is NOT what God sees in you!
God doesn’t see you as a girl who is stuck without a clear way of overcoming this. He sees you as a girl with the mighty power of his Spirit within her, and if you will start responding to his word in your Bible and his word in your spirit, you won’t spend another day stuck.
I know it sucks starting over. But if you hate starting over so much, how about this time you decide you’re simply not going to stop. This time you keep showing up in the strength God gives you and you push through. This time could be the last time you have to start again. A woman of action will embrace the suck, stop complaining about it, and just do it.
And again, GOD WANTS YOU TO BE A WOMAN OF ACTION.
James 1: 22, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” I’ve heard a good sermon, I’ve listened to a powerful podcast, I’ve read an amazing book, and then I’ve done absolutely NOTHING with those words. Those words inspired me, stirred me, gave me great ideas – but without action, they were wasted. Inspiration is like gas, it will pass. You are bloated with inspiration because you keep buying more books, listening to all the podcasts, researching all the ideas, but you’re never doing a darn thing with all that. You’re just bloated. You need to get up and walk that out!!!! Honey, what good is the batter you keep stirring but never put in the oven? Bake this sucker and let’s take a bite!
As this scripture says, you have been deceived. You’ve been deceived into thinking if you just get more inspired you’ll do something about this mess. No you won’t. You know when you’ll do something about this mess? When you actually DO something about this mess.
You’ve been deceived into thinking there’s a perfect diet, and when you find that diet all your problems will go away. You’ve been deceived into thinking there’s a perfect man out there, and he’s not the one you married. So, when you get rid of this one and find the next one, you’ll be happy. You’ve been deceived into thinking it’s a new job you need, or a new house, or new boobs. You’ve been deceived. Maybe what you really need to do is treat your current job with gratitude instead of complaining about it. Maybe you need to clean the house you’ve got instead of thinking a new house would somehow magically make you more organized. Hey, maybe you just need to put on a bra today.
(Okay, please don’t send me hate mail – I know we’re back to the days of this whole ‘free the boobies’ thing, but I’m going to be a good girlfriend and just tell you, some of y’all need to put your bra back on. I say that with all the love in my heart, don’t hate me. It makes me really uncomfortable.)
Be DOERS of what God tells you, not just hearers. Don’t be deceived into thinking inspiration and new ideas and a label maker is all you need. No, you need to DO something with what God is telling you.
The next verses in this scripture have honestly always confused me. I felt as if perhaps it was some outdated reference that just wouldn’t make sense today. But I was wrong. I dug deeper. Verse 23-24, “Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was.”
Hmmmm … that didn’t make sense to me. I look in the mirror, then walk away and forget the kind of person I was?
When I don’t understand a scripture, I start researching different translations. Here’s what I found today. CHECK THIS OUT! This scripture in The Passion Translation says, “You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin.”
Woahhhhhhhhh. God’s written word and the words he speaks through his Holy Spirit show me who I am. But if I don’t DO something with what he has shown me, I quickly forget who he says I am.
When God’s word tells you that you are strong and courageous, but you don’t believe it and act on it, you quickly forget that’s who you are in Christ Jesus.
When God’s word tells you that you are forgiven and redeemed, but you don’t talk to yourself in that way, then you quickly forget that’s who you are.
When God’s spirit prompts you and tells you you’re the one he has chosen for this job, but you dismiss yourself and talk yourself out of going, you quickly forget you were chosen.
You have forgotten your divine origin because you didn’t take action on how God sees you. When you KNOW you are his chosen, prized and beloved girl, you are moved to action in your life! You make changes that align with his will. You show up to places your prompted to go. You push through the struggle because you know your destiny has always been to be more than a conqueror.
Now verse 25, “But those who set their gaze deeply are fascinated and respond to the truth and are strengthen by it. They experience God’s blessings in all they do.”
What are we gazing at? We’re gazing at who God says we are. We’re focusing on the truth!
Y’all, I am fascinated by who God says I am. I am fascinated that I carry the power of God within me. How crazy cool is that?!!! I am fascinated that I bear the fingerprints of the master and he has called me his masterpiece. I’m fascinated by the supernatural strength I have access to. And this MUST LEAD TO ACTION.
I have to do something with this. I have to do something with all I’ve been entrusted with.
YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING WITH THIS!
Look in the mirror of God’s Word and perceive how he sees you. See you for who God says you are. Don’t forget that. Never forget your divine origin. You have good plans written for your life by the creator of the Universe. He’s good at fulfilling his plans! But here’s the thing, he won’t do it without you. He wants you to be a woman of action.
Do something about what he is showing you. Do something about the promptings of his Spirit you’ve been feeling. Do something with the words he has been giving you.
Inspiration and good ideas are great, but they fall short if all you do it collect them. While you’ve been listening today, God prompted you with something specific. What was it? Take action on that today. Don’t just be a hearer, be a doer!
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