Coach MJ

God Wants to Change Your Reality!

Is analyzing the opposite of trusting?

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Has this ever happened to you?

You get a brilliant business idea, and you’re confident it came from GOD … and you’re sooooo excited to move forward with it!  You feel courageous, and you just KNOW it’s going to work, but instead of getting started on it right away … you get distracted by social media, or your kids need you, or you have to get ready to go to your “real” job … or any of a bazillion other things you need to do!

And then …

your energy towards that idea is gone! In fact, you wonder what you were even thinking, and you quickly come up with all the reasons it wouldn’t have worked anyway … and so you don’t do anything!

Every single day I see GOD turning things around for people SUDDENLY!

New ideas, opportunities, or ways of doing things that are being met with GREAT success!

But the one key ingredient?

You need to MOVE when HE puts on your heart to MOVE!

It’s funny … I was having a conversation with my oldest son a few weeks ago, who is VERY analytical (he’s actually a developer at Microsoft) … so this is what HE’s gifted at!  He analyzes everything … because that’s how GOD wired his brain … and it’s a beautiful and amazing thing!

He also really loves GOD, and we’re always having conversations about how to hear GOD’s voice, get direction, know when it’s GOD leading vs. your own thoughts, etc.

As we were speaking, I said something to him that I never verbalized before … but I believe it’s true in many cases:

“Analyzing is the complete opposite of trust!”  (when it comes to GOD)

Now don’t get me wrong, there are certainly times we need to analyze things, especially in business.  We need to continually evaluate our efforts and make tweaks so that we can get even better results. We need to analyze whether we should take on a new business partner, hire a particular employee, invest in new software … YES, it’s important that we analyze certain things.

BUT … when it comes to GOD leading us … we don’t want to over-analyze that!

In fact, it’s just the opposite … because many times, what GOD puts on our hearts to do, especially in business, can be counter-intuitive (ie make no sense at all lol) … but will bring great results if we move on it immediately!

But that’s actually consistent with how GOD has always done things …

  • Did it make sense for Joshua to lead thousands of people to march around the walls of Jericho for six days a certain way, and then the seventh day … and blow the trumpet at a certain time, and the walls of Jericho would come down? nope!
  • Or that Peter (instructed by JESUS) should open the mouth of the first fish he caught and he’d get the money he needed to pay the tax? nope!
  • Or that a small boy with five loaves and two fish would have enough food to feed well over 5,000 people? nope!

I could go on and on … but here’s my point.

Just obey GOD when HE puts it on your heart to do something. Don’t over analyze it, just do it!  THIS is when miracles happen!

Now if you’re not used to doing this, it’s just like working a new muscle.  It may feel unusual and awkward at first, but it is sooooo well worth it. GOD is looking for HIS kids HE can trust to move when HE says move … so that someday, when we meet HIM face to face, we can hear two of the most beautiful words of all time …

“Well done!”

Have a beautiful day, my dear friend, and be brave when it comes to stepping out in faith and trusting GOD. Your life will change, for sure!

I love you and I believe in you!

PS:  If you haven’t yet read my book, Make GOD Proud: How to Stop Living Below What GOD Intended for You! click here for your own free digital copy. On page 58 you’ll read more about obeying immediately, and in the chapter that starts on page 68, you’ll read all about trusting, and tuning into MIRACLES! Enjoy!

GOD and Glass Stovetops

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In our beautiful home the LORD blessed us with, our range has a glass stovetop. I love it. Most of the time. But when food, soup or sauce spills over the edge of the pot it gets on the surface and makes quite a mess. Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to clean, and when you cook on it again, it gets even worse.

(If you have a glass stovetop you know what I mean!)

And then you’re gone a few days like I recently was, and your family keeps cooking on it while you’re gone …. and …. well … you end up with a really big, stuck on mess that doesn’t even budge.

So last weekend when I was home I tried more diligently to remove the stains with the daily cleaner designed for that. (which we hardly ever use … oops!)

It didn’t come off.

So I did what every other smart, time-saving American would do. I picked up my phone, went to my Amazon app, looked up glass stovetop cleaners … and bought them all. I was determined.

The cleaning products came the next day and hubby took a stab at the stains with the paste and special scrubber … and it helped, somewhat, but didn’t get it all cleaned.

This morning, when everyone else was sleeping, I decided to bring out the big boy, the razor blade scraper included in the kit … and I started scraping. Meticulously … and determined.

Some areas came off quick and some areas took more diligent work, which I lovingly did down to the finest detail, because I was looking forward to my shiny glass stovetop again.

And that’s when I realized, this is how God works on us. We keep getting stuck or clogged up in the same areas over and over … and it sort of piles up.

And then as we seek GOD and work on overcoming whatever it is we’re struggling with (while HE’s pursuing us) we understand and enjoy new levels of freedom from things that have held us back, and feel lighter and happier and more optimistic.

And then we struggle with the same doubts and fears again … and fall back into old bad habits and make some of the same mistakes again.

And then HE picks us up and brushes us off … and we go again …

Until the next “revelation” (or level of understanding) …  and HE scrapes away some more of the junk that has clogged us up and kept us stuck over the years.

And we feel great and lighter …  then we struggle with the same thing again.

Then HE scrapes away some more.

And then we start relying on the daily cleaner to keep everything nice and shiny and clean, with no build up … ahhhh … we learned something new!

In GOD this daily cleaner is the Bible, and spending intimate time with GOD on a daily basis.

That’s when we notice that we’re getting “stuck” less and less … while we become more and more “free” and “clean”.

Walking with GOD is a beautiful journey, and each one of us is sooooo important to HIM and sooooo loved by HIM, beyond anything we could ever comprehend!

And HE’s molding us, strengthening us and refining us … and scraping away all the old junk on a regular basis until we are perfect and complete lacking in nothing … and finally free.

Oh how HE loves us!

Are you giving GOD a black eye?

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Recently, my daughters and I were taking a road trip to visit a few of the in-state colleges my 18-year-old-baby Grace was interested in.

We were driving north on the Florida Turnpike and passed a brown SUV driving 50 miles an hour with its flashers on. It was causing an unexpected slow-down, and was quite a hazard to the surrounding drivers. When we passed the vehicle, I couldn’t help but notice big white Bible verses written all over the back and side windows.

We were hoping they weren’t in need of help, and curious to see who was driving, what was going on, etc. We couldn’t believe our eyes as we passed the driver side window … a guy munching away on what appeared to be a huge foil wrapped burger or sandwich, smiling and gesturing wildly with his hands to the other passengers in the vehicle … as if there was nothing in the world wrong. Seemed as happy as could be, oblivious to the commotion and danger he was causing.

While I agree that it’s important not to be shy about your faith, we should stand out for the good we do, not the in-your-face, Bible-thumping, strange behavior that can scare people away! I cringe when I think what the other non-believers might be thinking when they passed that vehicle … “there goes another one of those weird Christians?”

GOD doesn’t want us to make others feel uncomfortable or confused in any way. On the contrary, as believers, we should be the most friendly, relatable, normal, sound-thinking individuals on the face of the earth! Our lives and the way we go about our daily business should reflect JESUS … kind, compassionate, caring, patient … anything but weird!

When others see how friendly, successful, polite, happy… and normal a believer can be, they’re definitely more likely to open up and respond positively to GOD!

Of course, it’s not just how you look; it’s how you conduct yourself every day at work, at home, and in your social life. Whether you realize it or not, people are watching!

Many think being a good witness means evangelizing everywhere you go, but it’s just as important to conduct yourself in ways GOD would be proud of. It’s our lives, not our words, that pack the biggest punch when it comes to honoring GOD.

JESUS may not be walking the Earth today, but we are. We truly are HIS hands and HIS feet. As representatives of GOD, let’s show people how easy and wonderful it is to live a life led by HIM!