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Finding the Freedom to Move Forward

Sometimes God uses the things in life that you least expect to be the catalyst for the biggest changes. I am currently reading a book for our church women's group. I will be honest, I started the book with a bad attitude. I didn't like the title, I questioned the motives of the author and I had recently done another study on the same topic. All those put together, I was reading the book without expecting to get a lot out of it.

Every month, we meet as leaders before our women's study meets. At that meeting, the other leaders were raving about how much they loved the book. I was honestly a little shocked. How could they love something so much that I was having trouble even finishing? What was I missing?

As I started to explain my frustrations with the book, floods of emotion came rushing in. Now, I'm not typically a very emotional person so this response surprised me. I realized that I have some hurt and unforgiveness that has been holding me back. I have been blaming past situations and circumstances for my current position. I was expecting someone else to open the doors for me instead of putting in the work to open them for myself.

As my precious friends poured encouragement into me and graciously handled my bad attitude, I was convicted. It is so easy to play the victim. It is easy to allow the actions of others to hinder our own forward movement. Sure sometimes the actions and attitudes of others might create an obstacle, but God is bigger than any obstacle.

When I went to the leaders meeting, I was not expecting much. I expected a nice conversation about a book like we usually have. However, God used that meeting to reveal to me some areas of wrong thinking in my life. He showed me some thought patterns that were holding me back and preventing me from accomplishing the very things He has called me to do.

I cannot move forward while holding onto the past! I can use it to propel me forward, but I cannot sit in frustration and blame.

I'm so thankful for my friends! Before I was even home from the meeting, one of the other leaders sent me an email outlining steps I could take to move forward. She sent me a list! My favorite!

I believe that meeting was a catalyst for what God is about to do in my life. I believe He wanted to remove the wrong thinking so He can open the doors to my future and I will be free to walk through them. I believe this is exactly what the Bible is talking about when it says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." (Galatians 5:1) I was set free from wrong thinking so that I would be free to fully pursue God's plan for my life. Freedom has purpose.

Oh, it's not always comfortable. It is often easier to continue with our wrong thinking, blaming others for what is happening to us. But the reality is, freedom is where the Spirit of the Lord lives! (II Corinthians 3:17) Freedom is where we walk in the full possibility of what God wants to do in our lives. No longer do we have to be a slave to our circumstances or to our wrong way of thinking; but instead, we can renew our minds and live in the truth of God's amazing grace!

Not My Job

What an amazing first retreat for the NTD women! (North Texas District) We were blessed with amazing speakers, powerful worship, and precious community.

As retreat coordinator, I will be the first to admit that I feel the pressure to make sure everything comes together smoothly. Putting together a retreat for 650 ladies is no small task. When I arrived on Thursday, my brain was working overtime trying to make sure there was nothing that was being missed. If you saw me and I looked frazzled or deep in thought- I probably was :)

Thankfully, I had a sweet friend who spoke truth into my life. She told me to sit down and rest, enjoy my supper and remember, "it's not my job." At first I disagreed with her, actually it is my job. I'm the Retreat Coordinator. But over the next several hours, God spoke to my heart. It was not my job. Sure, I was the one who was available if any issues arose; but ultimately, finding the solution was not my job. God reminded me, that was His job.

We had covered this retreat in prayer (and I believe the ladies could feel that the moment they drove onto the campgrounds). We had planned in advance. We had thought through the schedule and the events of the weekend. This was not just something we had decided to throw together last week, this was months of praying and planning and preparing.

God's quiet whisper said, "This is not your job daughter, this is my job." I was not responsible to make sure everything was happening perfectly. It was not my job to remember every detail that could possibly come up. It was my job to obey my Father and listen for His voice. If He reminded me of something to do, then I could do it. If someone came to me with a problem, it was not a surprise to God. He already knew the problem and He already had a solution. I merely needed to ask Him how I should handle it. He was Faithful to answer.

I did not need to worry or stress. I needed to trust that God is Faithful! God is not just Faithful in the big things, He is faithful in the little things. I cannot tell you the number of times God was Faithful. For example, during one of the services a lady came to our leadership team. She had hurt her hand and needed some ice. As we left our office to find the nurse, the nurse walked by the office. Out of 650 ladies, the one we needed walked by at the exact moment we needed her. That is God's Faithfulness!

There is story after story of those small moments when God proved Himself Faithful. This was not our retreat, this was God's. Yes, we were His hands and feet on the ground, physically doing the labor. But the ideas, the planning, the results, those are all God's. We never wanted them to be ours. The cry of our heart has always been, more of you God and less of us. We want God to meet the ladies at the altar. We want Him to speak to their hearts. We want Him to do what only He can do. It's not us. It is God through us.

My prayer for you today is this. Trust God. Listen for his instruction, in the big things and in the small things. Do not fret or worry about the details of life. Instead, trust that if you have asked God to lead you, He is faithful to do it. Ask Him to remind you if you are forgetting something. He will. Ask Him to help you make decisions and to guide your steps during the day. He will be Faithful!

I Thessalonians 5:24, "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." (NIV)

Paused

I am so excited to announce that Paused: Protecting Your Faith When God Says "Wait" is now available on Amazon!

Read a sample of Paused here:

Week 4 Day 2: Waiting for the Miraculous— Mark 2

We learned last week about the importance of not relying on the faith of others. Instead, we must grow our own faith. Yet, there is a time when the faith of others can carry us to our faith opportunity. Or perhaps, our faith will create an opportunity for another person to meet with Christ.

• Read Mark 2:1-12.

What type of situation did the men encounter when they arrived at the home where Jesus was?




Instead of giving up because they had to wait to receive their miracle, how did the friends of the paralytic man use their faith to create an opportunity for their friend to meet with Jesus?

These men had to wait to see Jesus. They arrived at the home where Jesus was, but they could not get the answer they sought right away. They had some work to do. They had to remove the barrier between them and their miracle.

What would have happened if they had given up and gone home when they encountered difficulties?

The paralytic man’s friends truly believed that Jesus was the answer they were looking for. They were willing to go to any length to get to him. Sometimes we must labor in prayer to see our miracle.

Have you ever had to battle in prayer in order to help a friend receive their miracle? If so, explain.

What did Jesus say to the paralytic man when He saw the faith of his friends?

Do you think this was the response his friends were looking for? Why or why not?




I’m not sure the man’s friends understood the value of the man’s sins being forgiven. They had just carried the man up on the roof, dug a hole, and lowered him through it. I’m sure they were hoping for his healing. I’m guessing they did all that because they wanted Jesus to heal his legs so he could walk home. They probably did not plan on lifting him back through the roof so they could carry him home. It is very likely that they were more focused on their friend’s physical condition than his spiritual condition.

Have you experienced a time where you didn’t receive the physical miracle you were praying for, but instead received a spiritual miracle? If so, describe what happened.




Thankfully, Jesus was not done. He not only forgave the man of his sins, but he also healed him. It is easy to become distracted by miracles. We can begin to seek the miracles, instead of seeking Christ. We can become so focused on the answer to our prayers that we lose sight of the Answer to our prayers- Jesus!

• Read Luke 10:17-20.

The disciples were excited that they were able to perform miracles, but what did Jesus remind them to keep their focus on instead?

Why did Jesus encourage the disciples to shift their focus?




It is so important to develop character that can handle miracles. Jesus reminded the dis- ciples in these verses that it is not the miracle we are to focus on, but our salvation. Be careful as your faith grows and as you step out and begin to pray powerful prayers that you do not forget it is your relationship with Jesus that matters most.

It was not the faith of his friends that healed the paralytic. He still had to exercise his own faith to stand up and pick up his mat. However, it was the faith of his friends that brought him to the place where he could receive from Christ.

What are some practical ways that you can be the kind of friend who creates opportunities for others to meet with Jesus?




Is there someone in your life that you need to carry to Jesus? How can your faith pave the way for that person to receive a miracle?




In your own life, do you see yourself more as the person who needs people to bring you to Christ or the friend who is bringing the person to Christ? Why? 





To order your copy of Paused visit Amazon: Paused


To order 20 or more copies, please contact kellyfjestad@hotmail.com for discount pricing.

Coming Soon!

COMING SOON!!

PAUSED. Protecting Your Faith When God Says "Wait"  - A six-week Bible study 

Read the back of the study here:

Have you ever felt like your life was paused? On hold? Waiting? Standing still? Not moving forward?

There are so many times in life when we are called to wait. Perhaps you are waiting for a promise from God to be fulfilled. Maybe you are being mistreated or experiencing persecution while you wait. It’s possible you are waiting for the miraculous—a healing, a supernatural provision, or a divine intervention. Maybe you have been waiting and waiting and waiting, and there is no end in sight.

Waiting can be hard on your faith. It is in the pauses of life that our faith is tested. Do we really believe what God has spoken to us? Can we persevere even when our prayers seem to go unanswered? Will our faith withhold the test of time? Literally!

This six-week study will examine many Biblical examples of people who waited. We will look at their stories and see how they protected their faith while they waited on God. We will learn how to build, grow, and protect our own faith in the process. And we will see that through it all, God is Faithful!

Powerful Prayers

"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16)

My Facebook feed has been filled with prayer requests lately. Big ones, life changing ones. So I look at this verse and think, "I need to be righteous, so that my prayers will be effective." But what does that look like, what does that mean?

Often times, we strive to attain righteousness on our own. We try to live good lives, do good things, avoid bad things. But is that really how we attain righteousness?

Paul says in Philippians 3:8-9, "That I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

True righteousness cannot be earned. We cannot do more good things or do less bad things in order to gain the kind of true righteousness that connects us to the heart of God. 

We see in Philippians that true righteousness comes through faith in Christ. Yet, it is also our understanding of righteousness that builds our faith. 

Why is understanding that we are righteous powerful and effective? Because the righteous person understands his/her identity in Christ. Righteous men and women understand that because they have faith in Christ, their identity is in Him. This means that when God looks at the righteous man or woman, it is as if He is looking at Christ. 

Therefore, the righteous man and woman can pray with confidence that God hears them and will answer their prayers just as if Jesus was praying. They can believe that they have the same access to God that Jesus would have. Jesus paid that price so that we can have relationship with the Father. 

Righteousness says, when God looks at you, He sees Jesus. Therefore, if Jesus would pray and God would answer, then you can pray and God will answer. 

For example, if you believe that Jesus could pray for your healing and you would be healed, then you can believe that you can pray for your healing and you will be healed. 

Or, if you believe that Jesus could pray for provision and it would be provided, then you can pray for provision and believe that it will be provided. 

Now there are some things that Jesus prayed for that he didn't receive. When he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion, he prayed that if possible the cup would be taken from him, but it was not. Persecution and suffering are not things that we can pray with absolute faith that they will be removed from our lives. However, we can still pray with confidence that God hears our prayers and that He will never leave us or forsake us in our suffering. 

Why is understanding righteousness so important? Because it builds our faith when we pray. I can pray with confidence that God hears me, that He cares about my request. It is as if Christ is praying for my request. When God sees me, he sees Jesus. I can believe that if Jesus would pray for my situation and get an answer, then I can pray for my situation and get an answer. 

The minute that you surrender your heart, your life, your desires to Christ and exchange your old sinful nature for a beautiful new nature, you become the righteousness of God. You can not earn it, you can not be more righteous one day and less the next. You are righteous. Our struggle is believing it. We know the things we do everyday and we have trouble believing that all our mess was paid for on the cross.

This is why the Bible talks repeatedly about having a clear conscience. When we feel guilty, we can't pray with as much faith. We will have a little doubt in the back of our minds, sometimes it is huge consuming doubt, that says, "Do you really think God will answer YOUR prayer? Do you remember what you did?"

Guilt causes us to focus on us instead of on Jesus. We begin to think that we play some part in our salvation, instead of realizing that it is ALL JESUS! We cannot add to it and we cannot take away from it. The Blood of Jesus shed on the cross was and always will be sufficient payment for my sins. 

II Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 

The righteousness of God. 

It sounds beautiful, doesn't it?!?

The Long Way

When we moved to Texas three years ago, we were sure it was the plan of God. For the most part the move went very smoothly. Sure, we had to live in a hotel for three weeks until our apartment was ready, but that was ok. Brad's job was a blessing from the start. His salary was exactly what we had prayed for. We knew which church we were supposed to go to after trying only two and at the first church we tried I met the person who became one of my closest friends. It seemed like God had it all taken care of. He faithfully answered every prayer and then some.

So when we felt called to move again, I expected the same thing to happen. I expected God to handle all the details with ease. To sell our house, to provide the salary we were needing, to lead us to the right church, and basically make everything fall into place like He did the last time. 

I had so many people tell me their testimony of how God told them to move and then He sold their house in record time for above what they were asking. Of course God would do that for me too! Right?!?

Wrong. Our house did not sell right away. It has been on the market for 82 days. (Which I realize is not really that long, but when you are expecting God to sell it in 3, it starts to test your faith. Especially, when I am now the proud owner of two house payments. )  Thankfully, we do currently have a contract on it that is supposed to close in August, but after one failed contract already, I'd say we're a little gun-shy. 

We also haven't found a church yet. It's hard. It's hard to know where God wants us to go. Trust me, I have prayed about it, but I just don't feel like I've gotten a solid answer yet. 

There have been some other bumps along the way that I don't feel comfortable sharing on here. Things where we expected one thing and the opposite happened. Things that didn't pan out the way we were hoping. 

It's so easy to start to doubt. Did we hear wrong? Did we make a mistake moving? Why aren't things supernaturally falling into place? Would it have been better if we had just stayed where we were? What if the house contract falls apart again? What if? What if? What if?

What ifs are faith killers!

I know that God told us to move to Fort Worth. I know that it is His plan and that He has not forgotten us. I know that He did not move us here just to leave us to ourselves. But, why then is this the path He had us take?

Maybe this is how the Israelites felt when they left Egypt. Here God had done all these miracles to get Pharaoh to let them go and they leave Egypt with their arms loaded with gold and silver and head out toward the desert only to come face to face with the Red Sea. "What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?" they questioned Moses. All they could see was the enemy behind them and nowhere to go. 

But what they thought had been their biggest miracle- God leading them out of Egypt- and then the betrayal that they felt at facing the Red Sea- was only setting them up for an even more amazing, fantastic, awe-inspiring miracle. The parting of the Red Sea. 

It says in Exodus 13:17 that "God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country though that was shorter. For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.' So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle."

It strikes me as ironic that although the Israelites left Egypt armed for battle, God knew they were not ready to face war. Therefore, He led them on a longer route. Sometimes we get frustrated with the long route, but God knows what we are ready to handle and He is protecting us. 

I feel like I'm on a longer route this time around. Perhaps I am not headed directly for my destination and maybe there will be a giant obstacle in the way. But, my God is Faithful! He will provide. 

Are you feeling like you might have missed the plan of God? Are you feeling that you are walking a path that isn't leading exactly where you thought you were going? Is it taking longer than you expected? 

Have hope! God has not forgotten you. He is not leading you astray. He has you right where He wants you! Your biggest miracle is yet to come!