Nana Holds From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Welcome to Coffee Hour and thanks so much for having coffee with me! Grab your coffee and come on in for more of this transparent series, Nana Holds! We have just a few hours before Bryden gets home and finds out his daddy won’t be coming home.

I think I understand what the term “auto pilot” means now because that’s what it felt like for the rest of the day. I did what I had to do and didn’t even remember doing it. It was like my body was there, but my mind and heart were looking up and waiting for the next instruction.

The funny thing is, through a series of silent instructions, more of the pieces of the painful puzzle of my step-son’s life appeared in the picture, bringing clarity which brought understanding. And though the pain was intense, especially for my husband, understanding went a long way in soothing it.
And while I did look for some eternal value immediately, I must confess I wasn’t happy. In fact, the more reality settled into my head about all the sacrificing required for this situation, the more I resembled Bryden in one of his fits, on my back, kicking and screaming. Oh, was I ever unlearned with it comes to not acting out of control despite my world feeling out of control!

Daddy Holds!

George came home and my heart broke for him. Not only was he in extreme emotional pain, but he was in a tremendous amount of physical pain as well. Stress has a way of doing that, pinching nerves, and manifesting itself in all kinds of hideous ways and by the time he had come home, he could barely move his head to the left because of a pinched nerve!

We had talked several times throughout the day, so he was aware of the many answers to the many unasked questions, but honestly, he was aging before my eyes. I tried to comfort him as best as I could, reminding him that God definitely had intervened in our son’s life, and the only way to go from this point was up, if he chose to do so. I felt in my gut then, and still do now, that God was going to use this tragedy for Bryce’s triumph in a way that only He could.


My hubby wasn’t able to see that right away though, or maybe he could, but it wasn’t at the forefront of his thoughts. No, his heart ached, longing to pull his son out of the murky waters he had put himself in and protect him from the ramifications from his own choices. Oh, did I ever feel his pain and I so wished I could take it  from him, but I have been through this before and I understand that while it is incredibly painful, that this is/was something we were going to have to walk through together and I was truly thankful he didn’t have to go through it alone.

Shortly after George came home, Suzanne brought Bryden home. It’s a blur, exactly what we did first, but I think we just played with him for a little while before dinner. I think I was still sort of on auto pilot. It wasn’t until we were sitting down for dinner that the question finally came, the one I had been anticipating and trying not to dread . . .

Join me tomorrow for more.

Evinda

Nana Holds-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and thanks for joining me for a little break. I’m excited to be back with this series, Nana Holds. Grab your coffee and come on in!

Just to recap, we left off with me transparently sharing about the perception I have of myself as it relates to children, which has been fairly negative, and I hinted that I thought God would be using little Bryden to change that perception. And then I think I closed the last post in this series with a confession: that my attitude was definitely changing for the better, and I was beginning to be more comfortable with this little two-year-old in our home and not look so much like him when he is throwing a fit!

But then something happened that literally changed all of our worlds. On June 8th, we received a phone call that changed our family dynamic, and was, to put it mildly, a family crisis that left our little grandson Bryden without a daddy for an unknown period of time. I remember feeling a sense of relief because I knew that our Father had brought the truth to the light and that though the days ahead would be tough, this was a new beginning for my stepson.

Daddy Holds!

That relief was short-lived because later that day, a terror-like feeling gripped me, nearly choking me as the gravity of the reality hit: George and I were now to be parents to this little two-year-old. As I stood there in the silence, I began to try and think through all that this meant, but I couldn’t wrap my brain around it in that moment. Though I could see some eternally-valued things, I couldn’t hold on to the eternal perspective. It was just too much for me in my flesh.

My world, as I knew it, was coming to an abrupt stop; everything about it required redirection for now it was really no longer all about me and my agenda, “my ministry,” but all about a two-year-old and his little soul. This was going to require more of me and yet less of me at the same time for there was no way I could do this in my own strength.
Finally, I began to think about someone else besides myself: little Bryden. As I anticipated him looking for his daddy.

Later that evening, around dinner time, I fell to my knees, the tears coming from the depth of my soul. “Whatever am I going to tell him when he asks where his daddy is?” This is what I heard:
“Tell him he’s at a new job, the biggest job of his life.”

With a strength that was not in me or of me, I stood and embraced the rest of the day, rehearsing the words given to me while on my knees.

Join me tomorrow for Bryden’s response.

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for Coffee Hour and more of The Adulterous Woman! Grab your coffee and let’s get back to the conversation about idolatry and adultery!

Before we meet her, we need to do a bit more ground work. It is so very important that we understand the definitions for “adultery” so when we do meet her, we may be able to respond to her just as Jesus did, with a grace that surpasses all understanding and brings home to the heart the reality of the necessity of our need of a Savior.

Because of its depth, I am going to the Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. OMG, I’m so very glad I did. Wait until you hear this. The Greek definition says adultery is: Metaphorically used of those who are, by a Jezebel’s solicitations, drawn away to idolatry.”
There it is; adultery is idolatry, so it’s not just the literal definition of unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another! Oh, can’t you just see yourself in this meeting that’s about to take place? Can you honestly say that you have never felt the pull of something or from another pulling on your conscious thoughts to a place you shouldn’t have gone, to do something you know you shouldn’t do? I know I have! Maybe I’m not so above this adulterous woman.

But let me dig a little deeper for clarity and let’s look at the definitions for idolatry: In addition to being things offered to idols, idolatry is “The sin of the mind against God, and immorality, sins of the flesh, are associated and are traced to lack of the acknowledgment of God and of gratitude to Him.”


Now I feel like I know this woman we’re about to meet, as if we share so many things in common. The only difference between her adultery and mine is hers was committed against and with the physical while my adulterous actions have been dangerously more subtle, acts that have silently and spiritually pulled me further and further from the safety and sanctity of the love of Christ and His position of “first” in my heart and life.

Pondering true adultery,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for stopping by for a little break today at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and come on in. We’re in the crowd of people surrounding Jesus in the Temple and He was teaching and then the Pharisees and scribes entered with someone. Grab your coffee and let’s go get comfy.

Who is it that they are practically dragging in with them? Could this be her, the adulterous woman we’ve been waiting to see? As she gets closer and closer, it is hard to see her, what she looks like because her head is looking down. They are heading straight for Jesus, looking straight at him, only daring to look out into the crowd once before they stop right in front of Him.

Wow, these men that brought her in are pretty arrogant, treating her as though she’s an extremely dangerous and sought-after criminal and they should get the reward. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they are wearing an innate mask of smugness.

Let’s get closer so we can hear what they are saying.
Oh, would you just look at them all look around before they begin to address Jesus! Talk about prideful! Ugh. You can just see it oozing out of their pores as they speak. “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.”

Let’s stop there for a second. Now, this is just an Evinda-ism, but I can’t help but wonder if they really caught her or just saw her and knew of her reputation and used her to advance their scheme of tricking and thereafter arresting Jesus. That’s just a thought! Let’s get back to what they are saying.
“Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
Scripture says thereafter that they said this to test Jesus that they might have something of which to accuse Him, which is why I wondered what I did.

Before we get to one of the most acclaimed responses of Jesus, let’s talk about this woman for a bit. Though she remains nameless in the Word of God, she is such a pivotal example of the reality of The Gospel, the necessity of the reality of the need for a Savior. And though she remains anonymous in Scripture, she is someone we can all relate to, someone we must relate with if we dare to let go of shame, one of Satan’s most powerful ropes that hold us in bondage, an unseen bondage that pulls us away from abundant life.

Now you may be saying to yourself, I can’t relate to this woman; I’ve never committed adultery. Well, I’m so glad you brought that up, and we will definitely dig a bit deeper into this tomorrow, but for now let me leave you with this truth: Idolatry is a form of adultery!

Being freed from adultery,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for coming to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power for more of The Adulterous Woman. I think we may actually get to meet her today! Grab your coffee and come on in.

As we wrap up the definitions for deceived, keep this statement in mind: “His/her arrogance consists of claiming honor for him or herself. His/her comparing him/herself is not the sin. It is the sin that causes him/her to compare!

So in the midst of this meeting led by these prideful men, Nicodemus – a Pharisee who had actually gone to visit Jesus prior to this feast and this meeting – spoke up and said: “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

Talk about risking his reputation and position! They could have thrown him out right then and there on his ear for defending Jesus by reminding them that they weren’t even abiding by their own laws, but he wasn’t. But it is important that we understand that the Pharisees knew they were losing ground and that knowledge perpetuated the viscous cycle. Their hypocritical ways were slowly exposed and as the exposure increased, their prestige decreased. Pride was interfering with their ability to reason and deception took over, convincing them that they must get rid of Jesus to save face. Right and wrong no longer mattered.

The meeting ended and everyone went to their own houses.  Early the next morning Jesus headed back to the Temple and the scriptures say all the people came to Him. If we ponder that for a minute, we would have to conclude that the people who returned were looking for Him, wanting to hear more from Him. Have you ever been excited to go somewhere and when you got up the day of, you were so excited you could hardly wait? That’s how I imagine these people who came were, filled with excitement and maybe even curiosity.

Well, Jesus didn’t disappoint those who came, because He sat with them and taught them. Picture with me a huge sanctuary, filled, and when I picture this particular scene, I see Him standing amongst them, in a way that all could see and yet His teaching is reaching out and inviting them to Him. Despite there being lots and lots of people, it is quiet but for Jesus’ voice and all of a sudden, there’s an interruption that renders an attention switch. It becomes quiet, as quiet as a crowd of this size can be because Jesus stops speaking. Everyone turns their heads to see what Jesus is looking at. It is none other than the scribes and Pharisees, but wait, who is that they are nearly dragging toward Jesus?
Join me tomorrow for the actual introduction!

Evinda


P.S. Join me and Steve today for Blog Talk Radio as we continue on in the Breaking Free from Co-Dependency series of our Destination? Joyful! ™ show.

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me today for your coffee break at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power. I truly enjoy spending this time with you and I pray that you will be glad that you took this little break and turned everything else down or off in your life for just these few moments. I’m so sorry I didn’t show up yesterday. I just had too much on my plate, but I’m glad to be back so grab your coffee and come on in. We are going back to that first detour in the meeting with the officers, the Chief Priests and the Pharisees.

So this detour has everything to do with the word “deceived,” an accusation that the Pharisees tossed at the men who dared to speak out their wonder and curiosity. Bear with me for a moment as I check this out. I’m looking in my Hebrew and Greek concordance and there are at least nine different uses for the word! This detour may take a while. We’ll go one at a time so we can digest what may help us understand this reality of so many “believers” being deceived, as well as gain insight into the reality of why our Pharisees didn’t believe that Jesus was/is “The Christ.”

Amazing! Between the Old and New Testament, there are over 30 times that “deceived” is used, and you should see how many variations of the root word “deceive” there are! Ironically enough, the first time “deceived shows up is in Genesis – hmm, in the beginning! Just for kicks and giggles, I’m going to look up the Hebrew translation for the first time this word “deceived” shows up, and then we can compare it to the Greek translation and the verse that we are actually getting it from. This way we’ll be sure and get the right context.

Here goes: “To deride, by implication to cheat.” So that’s the first time it comes up, which is in Genesis. I just saw three lines down in the concordance the third use of this word and it’s in Deuteronomy, “that your heart would not be deceived.” I have to look it up, because this seems to be right on point. It wasn’t the officers whose hearts were deceived but the Pharisees!

Oh, this is interesting: “To open, to make roomy; usually figuratively in a mental or moral sense to be or cause to make simple or in a sinister way, delude, entice.” This is getting interesting: “to persuade, flatter, allure.” Ooh, something tells me that last one has a lot to do with our definition and a lot to do with The Adulterous Woman that we are soon to meet; I promise!

Join me tomorrow for more of this major detour!

Digging for understanding,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thank you so much for joining me today for a little coffee break at Coffee Hour! I hope you had a great weekend. I know the extra hour of sleep sure helped me, especially after an awesome event on Saturday. I am looking forward to sharing the highlights with you in a couple of weeks when this series is complete. As we get closer to the upcoming season, we will need the reminders of the things that we learned but for now, let’s get back to The Adulterous Woman! Grab your coffee and come on in.

So we just finished a little detour so let’s get back to the crowd and the pandemonium of questions and opinions after Jesus stood up and cried out professions and confessions in this huge crowd. I can just imagine the officers standing around watching and listening as their delusion of being in control crumbled every time they heard someone say, “This is the Christ.” In fact, Scripture tells us that they had a little meeting with the chief priests and Pharisees who wanted to know what in the heck was going on and why hadn’t they brought this man called Jesus to them.

I love what John 7:46 says: “The officers answered, ‘No man ever spoke like this Man!’”
So Jesus did get to them! Even these guys had hearts with a God-sized hole that only “The Christ” could fill. Unfortunately the Pharisees jumped on them like white on rice accusing them of being deceived, reminding them that no rulers or Pharisees believed in Him so they shouldn’t!
I feel another detour; in fact, there are two very important detours that relate to things staring me in the face of my life right now as I am writing this for you.

First, how does someone get so deceived? If I am honest with myself, and with you, I have to admit that I’ve asked this question of Him so many times, more than I can count, especially of people who claim to be believers of Him and in Him. How could that be? When I look at the word deceived I can’t help but think the answer lies within the word itself so I think it’s important to take time to research it. Before I do that, let’s take a quick look at the second detour, which is not nearly as long or as deep as the first. The detour is that of the peer pressure of the Pharisees upon the leaders. I mean here they were at this meeting and I can just see the fascination that moved from their hearts to their faces and then finally into their voices as they confessed that no one had ever spoken like this Man!

As I read these words that the leaders dared to speak about “this Man,” I can’t help but feel the blanket of pressure thrown upon them as soon as the words left their mouth. In fact, I bet if I were a fly on the walls inside this meeting, I’d wager that there was a moment of silence induced by shock, and you could hear a pin drop on the floor. These men that dared utter their curiosity were so overwhelmed with wonder that they didn’t even stop to think before they spoke. They didn’t take into account what others would think; they didn’t take into account the possible ramifications. They were responding to what had pierced the God-sized hole their hearts when they heard His words.

But how many of us dare to respond to that call, to that piercing of the heart, despite our circumstances, despite what others may think, even when we know others won’t agree? Even when we know there may be negative ramifications?

Oh, that we would be moved to rise to the occasion of daring to answer the call of “The Christ” and not get sucked into societal pressures.

Join me tomorrow for the other detour which is actually imperative to take before we meet The Adulterous Woman. In fact, we may feel like we know her because of this detour!

Joyfully,

Evinda


P.S. Join us today at 1:00 at www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power for our show about breaking free from co-dependency, a viral disease indeed!

Am I a Parrot or an Eagle-November’s WOW from Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me for a little break today and the conclusion to our WOW for this month. Grab your coffee and come on in and let’s wait a while together as we dig for diamonds in these words of wisdom found in Isaiah 40:31.

So this next part of the verse is why I titled the WOW what I did, but I had no idea I’d find so many truths to tie in my thread of faith that make this title ring out with beauty and nothing like a parrot! “They shall mount up with wings as eagles” definitely got my curiosity years ago when I read this verse for the very first time and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I heard one pastor’s explanation for the use of the eagle. See, when an eagle is soaring, their wingspan can be as large as eight feet wide, the widest of any bird!

What I so love about our Father speaking about an eagle to and through Isaiah is He could have said, Those of you who wait on/in me, I’ll raise you up on wings of a parrot or a duck, for that matter, but He chose the most amazing bird with the most fascinating wingspan to illustrate His love and compassion for us in our times of waiting. Also, a parrot reminds me of someone who talks the talk and doesn’t walk the walk, but an eagle, well, talk about meek and beautiful!

But there’s more to this than I thought. As I researched about this, I came across a very old commentary regarding this verse which explains that the verb “waiting” brings rest which renews strength, allowing the ascending/raising of the wings. Clarke’s Commentary points out that “It has been a common and popular opinion that the eagle lives and retains his vigor to a great age; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old age, and renews his feathers, and with them his youth.

And finally, the meaning of the Hebrew is simply, “‘they shall ascend on wings as eagles, or they shall lift up the wings as eagles; and the image is derived from the fact that the eagle rises on the most vigorous wing of any bird, and ascends apparently further toward the sun. The figure, therefore, denotes strength and vigor of purpose; strong and manly piety; an elevation above the world; communion with God, and a nearness to his throne – as the eagle ascends toward the sun.”

Oh, to walk the walk, or fly the journey with wings as an eagle instead of talk the walk like a parrot!
I love what Barnes writes in his commentary about this particular verse, and especially about the last few words: “They shall run and not be weary.” “This passage, also, is but another mode of expressing the same idea – that they who trust in God would be vigorous, elevated, unwearied; that He would sustain and uphold them; and that in His service they would never faint.”

This analogy was at first directed to the Jews in captivity in Babylon to encourage them to put their trust in God. But it is as true now as it was at that time. Many of us who have been in some form of captivity, have experienced some season of painful waiting have found that by waiting on the Lord, our heart has been invigorated; our faith has been confirmed; and our affections have been raised above the world. I know where my strength comes from to endure a circumstance without complaining – well, almost without complaint — to engage in continuous duty without fainting, to pursue the twists and turns in the journey of life without exhaustion, and to rise above the world in hope and peace.

Rising up to the occasion of life,

Evinda

Am I a Parrot or an Eagle-November’s WOW from Chicklit Power

Is it really November 1st? At the risk of sounding like a parrot, I have to confess, I’m not sure where the year has gone, because we all know that with the holidays, the New Year will be here in the blink of an eye! Wow, what a blur! Grab your coffee and come on in for our monthly words of wisdom and weapons of warfare.

I wasn’t too sure what we were supposed to talk about for our WOW, so instead of relying on my own understanding, I asked Him, and last Saturday, in the midst of my run, He reminded me of all that I am learning as I practice living outside my circumstances. I must confess, I am blown away by how much easier it is when scripture comes to life right smack in the middle of my circumstance, enabling me to rise above it instead of staying stuck in it. Not only does this month’s wow do just that, but it holds me accountable, keeping me from just talking the talk instead of walking the walk, or flying the coop!

So let’s get into our words of wisdom and weapons of warfare found in Isaiah 40:31: Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles, they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not grow faint.

There are a few word pictures in here so let’s break this down so it will root in our heart and take flight in our hearts. The first words that beckon me to stop and ponder them are “wait on the Lord…” The verb wait never used to be anything I liked to do, and in some cases, it’s still a struggle. But when you add “on the Lord” to the equation, that’s like saying wait + the Lord = Hope, so it’s gotten a lot easier for me.

There are so many circumstances, seasons, difficulties that require us to wait: The mom waits for her prodigal child to return from his/her wandering. The wife waits for her husband to join her in her faith. The childless woman waits to conceive. The jobless person is waiting for a job while the ownership of their home is dwindling away. The hungry homeless man is waiting for food and shelter. The trafficked victim is waiting to experience a rescue. Some of us are waiting for someone we love to get over their addictions.

The list goes on and on and on. All of these themes of waiting have the same theme: they signify a measure of faith, a sort of looking toward or for, a faith that fuels hope, or is it hope that fuels the faith?

Back in the days of Isaiah, the term “wait upon” referred to servants waiting for their Master’s orders! Have we strayed from that waiting? In modern usage, those who wait are those who show their confidence in the God’s ability and willingness to fulfill His promises by patiently awaiting their fulfillment. Let me turn to my concordance and see what we find.

OMG, the Hebrew translation for the word “wait” is to adhere to! That makes my skin tingle as I visualize that. I can literally see myself clinging to Him, sometimes loosely, and oftentimes ever so tightly. I want so much to paint this verbal picture so you can see yourself adhering to Him! Picture a tree and its branches. The branches don’t worry about how they will stay attached; they just are. He is the tree and we are His branches. He’s our glue when we feel we are coming unglued!

During these tough situations of waiting on the Lord, there is something to help us wait, a promise if you will: renewed strength! Then if that’s the case, I’m not really waiting on my own, but on and in Him and when I am losing strength, I simply just need to come back to my source of strength. I can also almost see an exchange taking place here, the waiting for renewed strength. Wow, after all I’ve learned about waiting, it all boils down to the truth that this type of waiting is restful!

Whew, I’d better let you go for now, but please join me tomorrow for the conclusion of our monthly WOW! We won’t have Power Friday like we usually do because I don’t want to interrupt this!

Renewed,

Evinda

The Final Invitation From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me for the final invitation in this invitation series for Living Outside Your Circumstances! Grab your coffee and come on in!

Many of us have been deceived into thinking that it’s so much easier to let the past be the past, but as an over-comer of many life issues, I can tell you that the way to abundant life, to that Destination? Joyful! ™ is through a revealing, peeling and healing process that must take place so as to not continue in the same cycles that rob us from true life.

I had no idea I still had so much to learn, especially as it relates to living outside my circumstances, but I did, and I still do, and I am humbled every time I think about sharing all that I have learned since we started this series two months ago! I am bursting at the emotional seams, wanting to give you some of the keys I now hold in my possession to unlock the prison we can often put ourselves in while in a circumstance. But I promised I would wait, so – oh, maybe just one: Take the X out of external, and what do you have?

Okay, I better hush now! Please, if you haven’t marked your calendar, won’t you plan on joining us this Saturday? He’s given me so much to share with YOU!


See you in a few days!

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for taking the time to join me for a little break today. Grab your coffee and let’s get back to this adulterous woman, or at least attempt to get near her today!

We last left off with Jesus telling the officers that came to arrest Him that it wasn’t the time for His arrest, and then He spoke in another riddle, not like the Joker from Batman, either! He said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

What in the world? Now, these words really caused a lot of commotion. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see all of the perplexity around the Temple. They had no idea what to make of Jesus’ words. But something else that’s peculiar is they left Him alone! The let Him be. I wonder why that is? There is no mention of an all-out brawl to try and force Him to go. The only answer that lines up and makes any sense at all is that His appointed time for the arrest that would lead to all of the suffering, the eventual crucifixion that would send Him into hell, His rising again, and thereafter ascending to His rightful place, back with His Father had not yet come, just as prophesied.
Now we are at the last day of the Festival, which is getting us closer to The Adulterous Woman, I promise! We are also nearing His appointed time.

Religious Leader

Imagine hundreds of thousands of people spilling out of the Temple, sitting where they are to celebrate the last day, “that great day of the feast” and somewhere in the crowd is Jesus. Scripture doesn’t allude to His exact location so I’m not sure if He’s inside or outside the Temple. I’m leaning towards inside, but wherever He is He’s surrounded by people, wall-to-wall people. All of a sudden He stands up and – this next word gets my attention – “cried” out. He didn’t just get up, clear His throat, hold His hands up and grab a megaphone to yell for everyone’s attention. He got up and just cried out. I can only imagine what emotion He must have been experiencing because His appointed time was getting closer. But I feel in my gut that it was something else; a yearning to express for almost the last time the message His Father had sent Him to give to all He encountered.

The beauty in His words is they too were/are a fulfillment of prophecy spoken by Abba through Isaiah, and again through John in Revelation. He cried out: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

There is a lot in one of these final outbursts, if you will, so I’ll let you go for now, but take a couple of minutes to dwell upon these words that He cried out to them and to us.

Pondering,

Evinda

P.S. Please join us today for more of Co-Dependent No More on our Blog Talk Radio Show at 1:00 Pacific Time! www.blogtalkradio.com/Chicklit-Power

Power Friday at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me for Power Friday at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and let’s go talk a minute about the difference between aggressive and assertive.

It’s a mind-boggling thing to even think about and as I think about the two, I am able to see many, many – too many – instances even in the recent past wherein I used aggression versus assertion. But then again, I didn’t realize it and I can certainly say it wasn’t on purpose. But now that I understand the difference, wow, is this ever helping me in any and all of my relationships as well as in ministry-related communications and circumstances.

This week’s power thought, and probably a couple more after, comes from revelations given to me in real-time situations as the choice to be aggressive or assertive rises to the occasion:

Aggression is agenda-driven; assertion is information-driven

Make it a aggressive-free weekend!

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and thanks so much for taking time to take a little break with me. Grab your coffee and let’s get back into this series and see if we get a little closer to The Adulterous Woman.

Religious Leader

So we are at this party, if you will, and we’ve been onlookers in the crowd, the ones murmuring exclamations, questions about Jesus. Now we are going to check out these Pharisees, these religious leaders who are all over the place, clothed in self-righteousness as well as fancy garb. So far we don’t think they’ve really heard everyone’s whispers of questions and opinions, but at this point in scripture, we learn that they did!

I have to interject a little something here — Isn’t that the worst feeling, to be talking about something or someone in secret because you know you shouldn’t be talking about it to anyone, and then that certain someone who you don’t want to hear busts you? Ugh, that has got to be one of the worst feelings, especially if we stay in it and don’t learn from it. Yes, there’s even a great whisper of a lesson in this type of a moment: If it ain’t edifying, it ain’t flying out of my mouth! I fall short in this area every day, but I’m not giving up trying! Okay, back to the crowd and the ticked-off Pharisees!
So the Pharisees all gather together and talk about what they are hearing all the people say in secret. Imagine all this testosterone coming to the surface with each comment repeated that they overheard. Whew, I’ve been in a roomful of male attorneys in the midst of a heated deposition, so I can say I can only imagine! It isn’t pretty; that’s for sure! Anyway, they want to deal with the immediate problem, which in their view is Jesus so they decide to send the officers to take Him.

At this point, I’m not sure where Jesus actually is, inside or outside the Temple, but there is obviously a crowd still gathered because when the officers approach Jesus to arrest Him, He simply says: “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

Wow, what a mouthful. I think we’ll leave that for the next blog. Please join me Monday for more of this series, The Adulterous Woman, whom I know we haven’t even met yet, but I promise, we are getting closer! We just need to set the stage, if you will, for her entrance.

Pursuing truth,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me for a little break at Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and let’s get back to this detour from long ago that is ever so relevant in our lives today.

For those of you joining us for the first time, we are in the midst of the Feast of the Tabernacles; Jesus has just spoken in the Temple about the exceptions that the religious leaders allowed as it related to circumcision on the Sabbath – which was a breach of the Law because it was considered work and His own mercy in healing on the Sabbath.

That caused a major ruckus and there were all kinds of murmurings going on while in the background the religious leaders were plotting His arrest, unbeknownst to the people who were in groups whispering their opinions about this Christ. Those who found Him to be who He said He was could not or would not speak up for Him because of fear of excommunication, which was considered to be one of the most devastating things that could happen to a Jew. To go against every religious law they had been spoon-fed since they were old enough to eat of wisdom would be like swimming up river 24/7; eventually the new way of thinking would be overtaken, drowned out by the old. The pressure was just too much.

The point of this detour is this: Sometimes it feels like that today, at least to me. It’s becoming more and more apparent that we are being surrounded by a host of things that are working 24/7 to rip us away from the One in Whom we put our hope, our trust, our First Love and get us to flow down the stream, spiraling farther from truth, the safety of His grace, mercy, farther away from the new law.

Are we standing in our groups, clicks, and whispering our belief in Him, fearful of what others may think or say, fearful of standing out like a sore thumb? Or are we going against the current, standing in our hope and faith in the One whom we will spend eternity with after it’s all said and done, no matter what the circumstance?

Join me tomorrow as we get back on track and closer to the adulterous woman!

Pondering,

Evinda

Invitation Tuesday @ Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me for Invitation Tuesday. Grab your coffee and come on in!

I can’t believe November is around the corner, which means so is our next event, Living Outside Your Circumstances. I had no idea I still had so much to learn in this area, but the truth is painfully true. I’m so grateful for His grace that keeps me in this journey and willing to share my mistakes that He turns into victories along the way. What a sovereign God we serve, an incredible Artist who is the only One who can take those painful circumstances filled with gut-wrenching colors and turn them into an awe-inspiring picture that sparkles with revelations that unleash hope and faith.

I have so much to share about how He's giving me victory in learning to live outside my circumstances, so I hope you can come. Here’s the scoop:



Looking forward to this time of transparency and encouragement,

Evinda

Power Friday @ Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for stopping by for our Power Friday thought at Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and come on in.

If you’re joining us for the first time, these Power Friday thoughts are actually inspired by revelations, realizations, and life experienced as a result of our Blog Talk Radio show wherein we are talking about co-dependency, what it is and learning how to break free from this viral epidemic!

Last week I shared that co-dependency seems to be a viral infection and I need some turbo-strong antibiotics to cure me. Well, an important one to have on hand for many issues and it is P3, Practice, Practice, Practice! If at first you don’t succeed, do it again until you are free! You WILL make mistakes!,

See, I’ve got to keep practicing to erase these tendencies within me. The encouraging truth is even when I mess up His grace picks me up so I can try again. So I’ve been practicing a different way of communicating based on the principles we’ve been learning as they relate to keeping my stuff with my stuff, having an undivided heart, and this week, it’s been consciously choosing assertion over aggression.

We’ll talk more about that in next week’s Power Friday! Have an awesome weekend.

Assertively,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break. I know life is full of demands and it can be challenging to stop what you’re doing and turn it all off. Grab your coffee and come on in for more of the history surrounding The Adulterous Woman.

So we’ve learned some interesting facts about this party that we’re eventually going to get to and I have to tell you, something tells me we haven’t skimmed all of the facets of its spiritual significance but I know we will see more of it as we get more into this true story. For now, let’s go check out who’s there.

Wow, there’s a bunch of important people here; you can tell by the way they are dressed, and I’m not just speaking of their clothing, either. Their body language is screaming authority in such an audacious way. They are everywhere, or so it seems, standing erect like stone walls with their arms crossed. I think they are the religious leaders.

And who is that lurking in the shadows? Oh, my goodness, is it really Jesus? Why does it look as though He is trying to hide? For some reason, He’s not the life of this party, or so it seems. I’m going to get in a little closer and see if I can hear why that is.

Ah-ha, apparently Jesus had just spoken openly in the Temple, the main location for this country-wide party. Wow, He’s really caused some ruckus among this party. I can hear some people saying “He is good,” and others are saying, “No, He’s not good. He’s trying to deceive the people.” No matter where I go in this crowd, people are in their little groups and Jesus is the topic of their conversations. I still can’t figure out why they are whispering.

Oh, that’s right; they are whispering because the religious leaders were more like dictators and they had a lot of power over the common people. Wow, they are not even trying to mask their authority. They are everywhere, lording over the crowds like a cloud threatening to break open with rain any moment. See, the more Jesus taught and worked publicly, the more these leaders would cause trouble for Him and His followers. Is it any wonder why they are whispering?
If these so-called leaders heard them, their worst nightmare would begin: ex-communication from the synagogue.

We’ll stop right there. Join me Monday as we get closer to The Adulterous Woman.”

Digging for the facts,

Evinda