Lifeline #2: You Will Not Miss It!

The will of the Lord will not miss you!

You will not miss God’s will for your life. You are not that powerful.

This is a message the Holy Spirit has spoken to me repeatedly for the past two years. I don’t know every desire of your heart, but I do know God’s plans for you are good, Jeremiah 29:11. Today, I’m speaking the same words He gave me over you!

The Lord’s purpose for your life will stand as you actively listen for/to His voice and heed His instruction. And for all the moments when you get it wrong, He gives grace, forgiveness, and fills in the gaps in the places where you’ve simply missed it.

Do not skip being obedient, but also don’t lose sight of His grace. In Jesus’ name, you will see the goodness of the Lord in full measure! Psalm 27:13

Confidently know that God is all-powerful. Jeremiah 32:17

Where your understanding stops, His continues. Psalm 147:5

Just as I shared last week, His sheep know His voice. When you follow the Shepherd, there’s no way you can miss the promise. Speak death to all fear, guilt and shame and faithfully trust Him!

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 19:21 NIV

Instead of shame and dishonor, you will enjoy a double share of honor. You will possess a double portion of prosperity in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. Isaiah 61:7 NLT

Officially,

Lena 💛

Lifeline #1: Do you recognize His voice?

If God was speaking, would you know it was Him?

(I initially wrote this December 14, 2022. It's taken me some time to make room in my day to post it. 😩 Thank you so much for reading! Click here for a brief audio message.)

I have found myself on numerous occasions asking myself, “God, am I hearing your voice? Is this just me talking or is the Devil trying to lead me astray? In 2020, I was listening to Lana Vawser teach and she said something that caused a light bulb to turn on inside of me. She said, “His sheep know His voice.”

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

Something about the simplicity of Lana saying, “His sheep know his voice” gave me an inward confidence that I could indeed identify the voice of God. You can too.

Last week, I was reading about Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus at the tomb. It reminded me of every part of John 10:27. Firstly, Mary heard the voice of Jesus. Secondly, He knew her by name. Thirdly, sheep need a shepherd to follow, so her recognition of Jesus as “Teacher” speaks to His position as the Shepherd.

14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). John 20:14-16 NIV

What’s interesting to me is Mary doesn’t recognize Jesus when she sees Him. Even when He speaks initially, she hears Him but doesn’t yet know it was Him. Once He mentions her name, she then recognizes it is indeed her Shepherd. I can relate to her in that way and I’m sure you can too.

Sometimes we may not immediately recognize when God is speaking to us, but a part of the blessing of our relationship with Jesus is knowing He knows exactly how to speak to us to get our attention. Regardless of the things that you may be seeking God about in this season, I am praying that you find rest in knowing God will speak to you and when He does, you will know it was indeed Him you heard. I pray we all follow!

Officially,

Lena 💛

p.s. Let me know if this message spoke to you! I’m often trying to determine what’s most beneficial to share from my talks with God and what you may need in this season. Thanks for growing with me! 🙏🏾

Highlight Conversations: Bible Study, pt. 3

I have a lot to share this December, but I first want to begin by ending the conversation I began on Bible study. If you haven’t checked out the first two parts of this series, please do. I understand some folks who receive this in their inbox or who see this directly on the site may already have an established method of studying scripture. That’s wonderful! This is primarily geared to those who have struggled to find Bible reading enjoyable or those who don’t know where to start when they open the Good Book. If you know someone who may find what I’ve shared helpful, please pass this along or allow what I’ve written to guide you in your own conversations with others.

After hosting the Bible Study Facebook live in August (viewable on Youtube or Facebook), someone contacted me and asked the question below.

How do I study the Bible? I have different translations, but I’m not sure where to start.

This led to a great two hour-long conversation. Today, my goal is to be more brief than I was during that phone call, because I already know if I say too much y’all will stop reading. 😆

Here are the highlights!

• Lena’s Three R’s—Read, Reflect, and Respond
• I’m sure someone else in life has said something similar or has a similar concept, but this is literally how I process my time with God. After you read a passage, reflect on what you gathered from it, and then ask the Lord how to respond to what He’s shown you.

• Comprehension: It’s okay to spend one hour on a single chapter or even an hour on a single scripture. If you find yourself getting lost as you’re reading, ask yourself what you’re not understanding. Do you need a different translation for easier readability? Would your study time be a bit smoother with a Study Bible? The goal is not to walk away feeling confused. If you are confused, come back to it and keep digging. Get understanding! Proverbs 4:7

• Google is your friend—Use search engines: We live in an age of technology y’all! There are so many times when I’ve jumped on Google to look up a word. This may sound super basic, but it’s so helpful. Let’s say you’re looking to build your faith in God, then try Googling “faith scriptures.” You also can use a concordance, dictionaries, and commentaries. Check out part 2 for my other recommendations.

• Determine the type of study: You could choose a topic (ex: faith), a person, a place, a book of the Bible, reading chronologically, front to back, New Testament to Old Testament or vice versa. Honestly, there is not a wrong way, but there is a way that could be most effective for you. That’s important to identify. I personally like to unpack all the details in stories so I blend everything I just shared. If you’ve ever had a conversation with me, then you may know I will tell you a story that goes all over the place and somehow I’ll bring it back to my original point. That’s so fun for me 🤗, but it’s also what I’ve found to be effective and engaging as I study scripture. Find what works for you!

• Consistency: Spend time with God daily and go beyond the surface. Let me frame this point with a question. If your time spent in the Word replaced all the natural foods you consume daily, would you live or starve to death? Matthew 4:4, John 4:14

I'll highlight an example to pull this all together.👇🏾

Let’s say “faith” is your topic since I mentioned that earlier. If you use either a concordance in the back of your Bible or Google, you’re sure to find something on faith derived from Hebrews 11. As you read it, maybe you start to reflect on the promises God gave to Noah, Abraham or Joseph. Let’s say you specifically zoom into Abraham. If you were in his shoes, how do you think you would respond to faith challenges? What lessons can you apply to your life by examining his journey? If you have a Bible that gives you reference scriptures or other comments in the margins, what else can you learn from what you’ve read? Take a moment to think about this example and how you can use similar questions to fit your study needs.

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This topic is so near to my heart because it’s a reflection of many conversations I’ve had through the years, and often with people who have known the Lord for years. With that said, please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can serve you in some capacity as you journey in growing with God or if you just want to let me know you read this today, info@carlenaprophet.com. The next post will be shorter and stylistically different from this Highlight Conversation.

Also, thank you to those who joined me in November for the Songs of Thanksgiving Lighthouse gathering! I love finding ways to intertwine my love for music, ministry and people. It was an honor and I’m so encouraged.

Love you guys so much!!!

Officially,

Lena 💛

p.s. If we visualize that God literally FILLS US with so much LIFE when we consume the Word, it would completely change us! The same God who fulfilled and is STILL fulfilling the promise He gave to Abraham (Galations 3:8) is the same God who will respond to your faith.

Highlight Conversations: Bible Study, pt. 2

While my goal was to share part 2 of this series in July, I also wanted to make sure what I wrote was engaging. To keep this from being overcomplicated, we can summarize the value of studying the Bible in one sentence.

Humans should study the Bible because it is the answer to all of life’s questions.

I didn’t read that definition from anyone’s website or find it in a book. That’s also not to say the answers we receive will always be the answers we want, but that Holy book is indeed THE ANSWER. We discover who Jesus is and who we are when we flip through those pages, or in today’s technology age, when we scroll through those verses.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” - Matthew 4:4 NIV

As I stated in part 1, I’ve had my own struggles with finding the Bible enjoyable. For many years, my preference was to read a good Christian book that included scriptures rather than solely reading the Bible. Now hear me, I am not saying I did not read my Bible because I did. What I am saying is, reading it was sometimes like swallowing a spoonful of cough syrup when I would much rather just drink a cup of apple juice and immediately be well.

As I transitioned into 2019, the Holy Spirit began to lead me into a season of deeper intimacy with God. It was in August of that year that I decided to purchase two new Bibles. Y’all, I loved them! One was a Study Bible and the other was an Apologetics Bible geared towards teens and college students.

Over the past three years, I began to see events in my life intertwined with the lessons I read through scripture. It was through those experiences that the Bible became incredibly illuminated in my world. And this all brought me to a place of enjoying the Bible and falling deeper in love with God.

What I’m sharing today honestly only scratches the surface. I think it’s time to have an actual conversation to dive into this a bit more. I hope you will join me for a Facebook live chat (facebook.com/carlenaprophet), Saturday, August 20th at 5 p.m. EST. Below I’ve included some resources that I use for my personal study time. I’ll speak on them a bit more that evening.

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Bible Study Recommendations

• The Study Bible for Women, Holman Bible Publishers
• I have the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) translation which may be harder to find in print, but it’s also available in the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) and New King James Version (NKJV) translations. I purchase my Bibles and books primarily from Christianbook.com. 
• Translations: I love that Christianbook.com provides information to help readers select the most ideal translation(s) for them. You’ll find more on that here.
• The study notes are my favorite feature about this Bible. It’s hugely why I love reading now!
• The Apologetics Study Bible for Students, Holman Bible Publishers
• This is also an HCSB translation. The updated print is in the CSB translation which reads nearly the same as HCSB. 
• In HSCB, you’ll see the Hebrew names for God in the Old Testament translated to the original names such as Elohim, YHWH (Yahweh), or Adonai. I love that about it!
• Notebook and Journal(s)
• I have a notebook that is specific to my church notes from sermons, another to jot down notes from my personal study time with God or messages He gives me to share, and my third book is my journal. It chronicles my own God story at work and eventually will be passed down to my children (or niece and nephew).
• The brand I use for all of these books is DaySpring. I love the scriptures at the bottom of their books! You can of course try other brands or buy a plain notebook. I’m just particular about what I use. 😁
• Apps
• Blue Letter Bible: I love that it provides Hebrew and Greek translations of words and the commentaries are helpful study tools too.
• Bible App: It’s super popular and a strong resource due to the wealth of devotional plans! It’s really great for a babe in Christ or those mature in their faith!

If you have questions about studying the Bible, choosing a Bible or if there’s something you’d like to share with me, please feel free to send me an email at info@carlenaprophet.com. See you guys later this month!

Officially,

Lena 💛

Highlight Conversations: Bible Study, pt. 1

 

Happy July friends! I’m excited for what is to come in these final six months of 2022!

This will be my second installment of highlight conversations. Interestingly, I planned to share this in the spring of 2021. Yes, more than a year ago. BUT, I held off to readjust my focus on writing social media content. Now I believe this series is meeting its appointed time.

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Picture it! You're a new believer in Jesus, but your understanding of scripture only hits the surface. Or picture another scenario! Let’s say your understanding is actually deeper than John 3:16 and maybe as the old folks say, you’ve been running with Jesus for a long time, but one of four things happens.

1. You either don’t open or rarely open the Bible outside of Sunday
2. You feel lost when you flip through the pages
3. You don’t understand what you’re reading and how it applies to your life
4. You’re just bored and/or it reads more like a lullaby for nap time

Regardless of the scenario, let’s say you are a person who genuinely desires to grow in your Christian walk.

How do you navigate through the Bible? How do you go from Bible struggles to Bible studies that are transformational and enjoyable?

Over the past year, God has taken me on a personal journey of JOY through scripture. I mean y’all it has been WILD, but I have this inward urgency that God needs so many more believers to jump into His Word and see Him (Truth) for who He really is!

As a teenager, I absolutely loved God. I just wasn’t amped up or jumping up and down about reading His Word. Honestly, reading scripture sometimes was reminiscent of my mama telling me to eat my vegetables as a kid.  It was the responsible thing to do, but it wasn’t always what I wanted to choose. But there’s one highlighted moment I never forgot from that season of my life.

One day I was sitting in a discipleship class. There was a minister who shared how he loved the word of God. He expressed it with such great enthusiasm and conviction. It was as if he had a craving for it. I’d compare his expressiveness for the  Bible to my love for cheesecake. And y’all, I love cheesecake!

In other words, it was deep and it was sweet.

O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good; How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8 AMP

I wanted to have a love for God’s Word like what I saw through him that day. Yet uniquely my own!

I share this with you today because I want you, and whoever you choose to share this series with, to experience the sweetest love story known to humanity. God offers this love to us as we journey through the Holy pages of scripture!  

May our love for God’s word grow deeper,  may we publicly testify of how ALIVE His truths are today, and may we boldly confess our faith for what He PROMISES to do tomorrow.

Officially,

Lena 💛

I’ll be back with part 2 later this month. You can expect some concise ways of navigating through Bible study and a video teaching is also on the way! If you’re not subscribed to posts, be sure to enter your email through the site! Love ya loads!