Transformed at the WELL Devotional Ministry

Hebrews 5:14 (NKJV) ~ “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

In Hebrews 5, the writer pauses while teaching about Jesus Christ as our great High Priest to address the spiritual growth of the believers receiving the message. They have become dull of hearing and still need foundational instruction when they should be ready to receive deeper teaching. The writer compares their condition to that of an infant who still needs milk, then explains that solid food belongs to those who have matured. But notice how Hebrews 5:14 describes maturity. It does not simply say that mature believers have heard more teaching or memorized more Scripture. It says that “by reason of use” they have exercised their senses to discern both good and evil. Their ability to recognize and respond to what is right has developed through practice.

The word exercised gives us a picture of training. Just as your physical abilities become more developed through repeated use, your spiritual discernment grows as you receive God’s Word, apply it, and learn to recognize the difference between what agrees with His truth and what leads you away from it.

Discernment is not merely having a strong feeling about something. It is not assuming that every uncomfortable situation is a warning from God or that every pleasant opportunity is His approval. Spiritual discernment requires you to examine what is before you in the light of God’s Word, seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and respond with wisdom. And this is where today’s conversation begins. You have been learning what needs to be crucified, what should no longer have power over you, and why you cannot remain spiritually immature. Now you must begin exercising what you have learned.

I have a question for you; have you ever walked into a situation and almost immediately thought, “Something about this feels familiar”? Maybe it was the way a conversation began, the pressure you felt to make a quick decision, or the familiar urge to respond before you had all the information. Perhaps you noticed yourself becoming frustrated over something you thought you had already learned to handle differently. You recognized the pattern, but you were not quite ready to admit what recognizing it might require you to do. And there you stood, with an opportunity to make a different choice, while everything familiar inside you was encouraging you to respond the way you always had. You need to know that sometimes the challenge is not that you do not recognize what is happening, you recognize it, but you do not want to respond to what you recognize. You see the familiar pattern beginning again and you notice how a particular conversation is affecting your attitude; and you can recognize that an opportunity is going to require more time and energy than you have available. You can hear yourself preparing to say something you know will cause unnecessary hurt. You notice that a habit you thought you had brought under control is slowly beginning to take up more room in your life.

But instead of pausing to consider what you already see, you convince yourself that this time will be different. You tell yourself that you can handle it, that it is not serious enough to address, or that you will deal with it later. Deep down, however, you recognize that something is not right. Before long, you find yourself praying for God to bring you out of a situation that had already shown you signs to pay attention to. You need to know that not every hardship comes from a poor decision, and you cannot anticipate every difficulty. But there are times when God has given you the wisdom to recognize that something needs to change. The question is not whether you saw the warning signs. The question is what you chose to do with what you saw. Proverbs 22:3 says, “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.” The prudent person does not have to experience every possible consequence before taking a warning seriously. Wisdom teaches you to recognize danger and respond appropriately.

You just need to know that you do not have to keep walking into what you have already learned to recognize. Think about a conversation that has repeatedly ended in frustration. You may already know which subjects need to be approached carefully, what causes you to become defensive, and when your emotions are beginning to take over. Discernment helps you recognize those moments before you say something you will later regret. It gives you an opportunity to pause, pray, listen, and choose a different response. That does not mean you should avoid every difficult conversation. Remember, during Crucify It, you were reminded that some conversations are hard to have, but they still must be had. Discernment helps you distinguish between a conversation that is necessary and a conversation that is simply feeding an argument. It helps you recognize when to speak, when to listen, when to establish a boundary, and when to allow everyone involved time to settle before continuing.

James 1:19 tells you to be “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Those instructions give you something practical to exercise. When you feel the urge to interrupt, you can choose to listen. When you want to respond immediately, you can choose to pause. When your anger begins rising, you can recognize it without allowing it to take control of your words. Each time you practice that response, you are learning to handle a familiar situation with greater maturity. And know this important fact; discernment is not the same as suspicion. God wants you to have discernment, but the world calls it suspicion, know and learn the difference. You can become so focused on looking for what is wrong that you begin questioning everybody’s intentions, interpreting every delay as rejection, or treating every unfamiliar situation as a threat. That is not the purpose of spiritual discernment. God is not calling you to live in fear of people or opportunities. He is teaching you to examine what is before you with a mind grounded in His truth.

First Thessalonians 5:21 says, “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” Notice that you are not instructed to reject everything. You are instructed to test it and hold on to what is good. That means you do not have to make an immediate decision simply because an opportunity has been presented to you. You can ask questions. You can seek wise counsel. You can examine whether the opportunity agrees with Scripture, whether you have the capacity to fulfill its responsibilities, and whether accepting it would require you to neglect commitments God has already placed in your hands. You can also recognize something good and receive it with gratitude. Not every new relationship is a distraction. Not every opportunity is a trap. Not every change is a warning. Discernment helps you distinguish between what you should embrace, what you should approach carefully, and what you should decline.

And that brings us back to an important question: Just because you can, does that mean you should? You may be qualified for an opportunity, but is it appropriate for this season? You may have the resources to make a purchase, but is it wise stewardship right now? You may have the right to express your disappointment, but will the way you are preparing to express it bring clarity or simply create more hurt?

Sometimes the answer will be yes. Sometimes it will be no. Sometimes you will need to wait until you have more information. The goal is not to develop a habit of saying no to everything. The goal is to stop allowing your immediate desire to make a decision that requires spiritual wisdom. Discernment requires you to examine yourself. It is easy to ask God to reveal the intentions of everybody around you while avoiding the question of what is happening in your own heart. You need to make this a part of your daily prayer, Psalm 139:23–24 gives you a different starting point: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” David did not begin by asking God to search everybody else. He invited God to examine him.

What if you began doing the same thing before making a difficult decision? Instead of asking only, “What is wrong with this situation?” you could also ask, “Lord, what is influencing the way I am seeing this situation?” Are you responding from wisdom or from a previous hurt? Are you saying yes because you believe God is leading you, or because you are afraid of disappointing someone? Are you saying no because the opportunity is not right for you, or because you are afraid of trying something unfamiliar? Are you seeking clarity, or are you looking for someone to agree with a decision you have already made? Those questions may be uncomfortable, but they help you examine your motives rather than assuming that every strong feeling is spiritual direction.

Jeremiah 17:9 reminds you that the heart can be deceitful. That is one reason you cannot depend on your feelings alone to determine what is right. Your feelings can alert you that something deserves attention, but they still need to be examined alongside God’s Word, the facts of the situation, and wise counsel. And remember, you can be sincere and still be mistaken. You can genuinely believe that you understand a situation and later discover that you did not have all the information. Spiritual maturity gives you the humility to acknowledge that possibility. It allows you to ask questions without becoming defensive and to change your understanding when new information reveals that you were wrong. Proverbs 18:13 says, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” Discernment requires you to listen before reaching conclusions. Sometimes the wisest thing you can do is admit that you do not yet know enough to make a decision.

Now, think about how this applies to your relationships. You may notice that a relationship has become one-sided, that certain interactions repeatedly leave you exhausted, or that you have begun compromising an important boundary to keep someone else comfortable. Discernment helps you recognize that the pattern needs attention, but it does not automatically tell you to end the relationship. You may need to have an honest conversation, clarify expectations, establish a boundary, seek support, or recognize that the relationship needs to change. The appropriate response depends on what is actually happening. This is why you need both truth and love. Ephesians 4:15 calls you to speak “the truth in love.” Truth helps you acknowledge what is happening. Love helps you respond without unnecessary cruelty, retaliation, or a desire to punish someone. And sometimes the person you need to have a difficult conversation with is yourself. (Please read that last sentence again!) You may need to admit that you have been ignoring your responsibilities. You may need to acknowledge that you keep saying you want peace while repeatedly participating in conversations that disturb it. You may need to recognize that you have been asking God for direction while resisting the instruction He has already given you through His Word.

Listen up you cannot develop discernment while continually refusing to examine the patterns that are already visible in your life. And this is where the cost of transition becomes personal. You have been asking God to lead you into new territory. You have been praying for greater wisdom, greater discipline, healthier relationships, and the ability to carry what He is preparing for you. But you cannot take every familiar pattern into a new season simply because it has become comfortable.

New territory requires you to recognize when an old response no longer belongs in the life you are learning to live. You have responded to disappointment with silence for years. Now God is teaching you how to communicate honestly. You may have responded to uncertainty by trying to control everything. Now God is teaching you how to prepare responsibly while trusting Him with what you cannot control. You may have said yes to every request because you did not want anyone to be upset with you; but now He is teaching you that a loving no can be more faithful than an exhausted yes.

Those changes do not happen simply because you have heard a devotional about them. They happen as you begin practicing a different response when the opportunity presents itself. That is what Hebrews 5:14 means when it says your senses are exercised “by reason of use.” You develop discernment when you take the truth you have learned and apply it to the decisions right in front of you. You still need to pause. You still need to pray. You still need wise counsel. But you are learning not to ignore what God has already taught you; do not confuse discernment with the ability to predict everything that will happen. You will not always know how a situation will unfold. You will not always recognize every challenge before it arrives. You may make a thoughtful, prayerful decision and still encounter difficulty. Discernment does not give you control over the future. It helps you make faithful decisions with the understanding you have today.

James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” You are invited to ask for wisdom. You do not have to pretend that you know what to do when you are uncertain. But when you ask, remain willing to receive an answer that challenges your preference. Sometimes you want God to confirm the decision you have already made. You want Him to bless the direction you have chosen, approve the response you have prepared, or remove the discomfort you feel about something you do not want to release. But Spirit-led living requires a different posture: “Lord, I am willing to be corrected. I am willing to wait. I am willing to change direction. Show me what is true and help me respond faithfully.” That is how discernment and surrender work together.

As you prepare your mind for today, begin paying attention to the thoughts that influence your decisions. Notice what you repeatedly rehearse, what you assume before you have all the facts, and what you tell yourself when you are trying to justify a choice. Your mind plays an important role in how you interpret what is happening around you. Romans 12:2 calls you to be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern the will of God. The more your thinking is shaped by His Word, the better prepared you become to recognize when your desires, assumptions, and responses need to change. As you have already learned too much to keep ignoring every familiar warning sign. You have heard the Word. You have been challenged to crucify your flesh. You have examined what still has power over you. You have been reminded that spiritual maturity requires practice. Now it is time to exercise your discernment. Remember, before you respond, pause. Before you commit, consider. Before you assume, listen. Before you follow a familiar desire, examine where it is leading you. And before you ask God to show you what is wrong with somebody else, invite Him to search your own heart. You do not have to know everything to make a wise decision, but you do need to be willing to use what God has already taught you.

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father, thank You for bringing me to another day of this journey. Thank You for the lessons You have already taught me about crucifying my flesh, examining what has power over me, and growing beyond spiritual infancy. Today, I ask You to develop my discernment. Help me become more attentive to Your Word and more willing to apply it when I face decisions, difficult conversations, unfamiliar opportunities, and familiar patterns. Holy Spirit, show me where I have been ignoring what I already recognize. If there are habits I keep excusing, conversations I keep avoiding, or choices I keep making without considering their consequences, help me examine them honestly. Give me the courage to acknowledge what needs to change without becoming discouraged or defensive. Teach me to respond to Your correction with humility and obedience. Father, guard me against confusing discernment with fear, suspicion, or the need to control everything around me. I do not want to assume the worst about people or reject every opportunity simply because I do not understand it. Teach me to test what is before me in the light of Your Word, to seek wise counsel, to ask thoughtful questions, and to wait when I do not yet have enough understanding to make a decision. God, help me recognize the difference between my feelings and Your direction. When I am hurt, keep me from allowing that hurt to determine every conclusion I reach. When I am excited, help me not to mistake my enthusiasm for Your approval. When I am afraid, give me the courage to examine whether You are warning me or inviting me to trust You through something unfamiliar. Let my emotions bring me to You rather than become the final authority over my choices. Lord, search my heart as David prayed. Reveal the motives I have overlooked, the assumptions I have treated as facts, and the familiar responses I have continued to justify. Help me recognize when pride is making me defensive, when fear is making me avoid what needs to be addressed, and when my desire for approval is causing me to agree to something I should prayerfully reconsider. Teach me to exercise discernment in my relationships. Give me wisdom to recognize when a conversation is necessary, when a boundary needs to be established, when I need to listen more carefully, and when I need to acknowledge that I have been wrong. Help me speak truth in love without becoming harsh, and help me show love without refusing to address what is true. Where a relationship needs healing, give me wisdom and humility. Where a situation requires distance or additional support, help me respond with clarity and courage. Father, as You lead me into new territory, help me recognize the old patterns that cannot continue governing my life. I do not want to carry yesterday’s reactions into tomorrow’s responsibilities. I do not want to ask You for greater opportunities while refusing to develop the judgment needed to handle them. Teach me to practice what I have learned in the small decisions so that I become more prepared for the greater responsibilities ahead. And Lord, when I do not know what to do, remind me that I can ask You for wisdom. Keep me from pretending to have answers I do not have or forcing a decision simply because I am uncomfortable waiting. Give me the humility to seek counsel, the patience to gather understanding, and the willingness to change direction when Your Word reveals that I need to do so. Let my discernment grow through consistent prayer, study, obedience, and practice. Help me recognize what is good and hold fast to it. Help me identify what is harmful and respond wisely. Above all, keep my heart surrendered to You so that I do not use discernment to elevate my own judgment above Your truth. I want to become more mature in the way I think, speak, listen, decide, and respond. Let my life reflect the work You are doing within me and teach me to follow Your Spirit one faithful decision at a time. In Jesus Christ Name, Amen.

Nugget: Discernment is not simply recognizing what is happening; it is learning how to respond wisely to what you recognize. Stop ignoring the lessons God has already taught you. Pause, pray, examine what is true, and exercise your discernment before your familiar patterns make another decision for you. Today Ask yourself: “What do I already recognize about this situation, what do I still need to understand, and what would a wise, loving, Spirit-led response look like?” Before taking action, spend time in prayer, consider what Scripture teaches, and seek wise counsel if needed. Then choose one practical step that puts what you have learned into practice.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…

Hebrews 5:11–14 (NKJV) ~ “Of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

You Cannot Remain Where You Began, in Hebrews 5, the writer is explaining the priesthood of Jesus Christ and His role as our great High Priest. But before continuing into a deeper explanation, the writer pauses to address the spiritual condition of the people receiving the message. There is more to teach them, but they have become “dull of hearing.” They are not progressing in their understanding and application of God’s Word as they should. The writer uses the picture of milk and solid food to explain the difference between spiritual infancy and maturity. Milk is appropriate for a baby. A baby needs nourishment, care, patience, and time to develop. There is nothing wrong with beginning there. But as a child grows, their ability to receive and digest food must grow too. What was sufficient at one stage of development cannot remain their only source of nourishment forever.

The concern in Hebrews is not that these believers once needed milk. It is that, after having time to grow, they still needed to be taught the foundational truths again. They had not developed the understanding and discernment that should come from consistently receiving and applying God’s Word. Hebrews 5:14 tells us that mature believers have their senses “exercised to discern both good and evil.” Spiritual maturity is not simply knowing more Scripture or having been a believer for many years. It involves putting God’s Word into practice until your judgment, responses, and decisions increasingly reflect what He has taught you. And that brings us to today’s question: Are you growing in what God has taught you, or are you still waiting for someone to teach you the same lesson again?

Yesterday, you were challenged to examine what still has power over you. You were asked to look beyond whether something is permissible and consider whether it is beneficial. You were reminded that just because you can do something does not mean you should, and that the freedom Christ has given you should not be surrendered to another desire, habit, emotion, or influence. But today, the conversation moves a little deeper. Because once you recognize what has been influencing you, you have to decide whether you are willing to grow beyond it, for growth requires more than recognizing what needs to change.

You can recognize that you need to become more patient and still refuse to practice patience. You can acknowledge that your words sometimes cause unnecessary hurt and still insist that people should simply accept the way you speak. You can identify a habit that is interfering with your responsibilities and continue making room for it. You can know that God is calling you to greater discipline and still wait for somebody else to motivate you every time you need to follow through.

At some point, what you know must begin changing how you live. That is the challenge in Hebrews 5. The writer is not telling these believers that they need to become perfect. He is confronting the fact that they have had opportunities to grow, yet they are not progressing as they should. They still need someone to return to the beginning and explain what they should already be learning to practice.

Now, think about your own journey. How many times has the Holy Spirit brought you back to a lesson you thought you had already learned? How many times have you prayed about the same pattern, recognized the same warning signs, or received the same correction, only to find yourself standing in a familiar situation making a familiar choice? Sometimes you find yourself revisiting a lesson because there is something more God wants to teach you. But sometimes you are revisiting it because you have not yet put into practice what He has already shown you and there is a difference.

And this is where you have to be willing to have an honest conversation with yourself. You cannot keep measuring your spiritual growth only by how long you have been saved, how many sermons you have heard, how many Bible studies you have attended, or how many Scriptures you can quote. Those things can contribute to your growth, but the evidence of maturity is also found in how you respond when the Word you have heard is tested in your everyday life. James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” You can hear a message about forgiveness and agree with every word, but what happens when you have an opportunity to forgive? You can hear a teaching about controlling your tongue and even encourage someone else to apply it, but what happens when you are frustrated and have something sharp to say? You can study the importance of trusting God, but what happens when His direction requires you to wait longer than you wanted? That is where the Word moves from something you have heard into something you are learning to live.

Do you remember what we discussed during Crucify It? That your flesh does not get the final say. You have to stop feeding what you are trying to crucify. Denying yourself is not denying your destiny, and new territory requires new discipline. But now the question is whether those truths are becoming part of the way you live or whether they remain words that encouraged you for a moment.

You cannot keep celebrating a lesson while refusing to live it. Perhaps you have learned that every feeling does not require an action, but when someone disappoints you, do you still allow that feeling to determine your entire response? Perhaps you have learned that you need healthier boundaries. But when the opportunity comes to establish one, do you abandon it because you are afraid someone may be upset with you? Perhaps you have learned that some conversations are difficult but necessary. Yet when the time comes, do you still avoid the conversation and hope the situation will somehow resolve itself?

This is not about condemning yourself for the areas where you are still growing. It is about recognizing that the next stage of growth requires you to exercise what you have already learned.

Hebrews 5:14 says that mature believers have their senses exercised “by reason of use.” Notice those words: by reason of use. Discernment develops through practice. You do not develop stronger spiritual judgment merely by wishing you had it. You grow as you study the Word, seek God’s wisdom, apply what He teaches you, and learn from the choices you make. Think about someone learning to walk. At first, they need support. They may stumble, fall, and reach for a steady hand. But as they continue practicing, their balance develops. Eventually, they can take steps that once seemed impossible. They do not become stronger by remaining seated and talking about walking. They become stronger as they begin to use what they are developing and your spiritual growth requires that same willingness to practice.

You may not handle every situation perfectly, but you can begin handling familiar situations differently. You can pause before responding. You can pray before making a decision. You can recognize when your emotions are rising and choose not to allow them to govern your words. You can establish a boundary and maintain it with kindness. You can acknowledge when you are wrong without immediately explaining why somebody else was wrong too, it may appear to be small choices, but they are opportunities to exercise what God has been teaching you. So, don’t overlook the importance of being teachable. Sometimes you can become so familiar with a scripture, a sermon, or a spiritual principle that you stop allowing it to challenge you. You may know the words so well that you assume you have mastered the lesson. But familiarity with a truth is not the same as maturity in that truth.

The writer of Hebrews says the people had become “dull of hearing.” That should cause you to examine not only whether you are hearing God’s Word, but how you are receiving it. Are you still allowing the Word to correct you? Can you receive instruction without immediately becoming defensive? When the Holy Spirit reveals something uncomfortable, are you willing to consider it, or do you quickly explain why it does not apply to you? Here is something for you to think about, sometimes the evidence that you are growing is not that you have stopped needing correction, but it is that you have become more willing to receive it and respond to it. Proverbs 12:1 says, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” The language is direct because correction matters. If you want to grow in wisdom, you cannot continually reject the very instruction that would help you develop it.

Are you praying for greater responsibility, a deeper assignment, healthier relationships, and greater influence, in your life; then you must know that growth is going to require you to develop the maturity needed to carry what you are asking God to place in your hands. You cannot keep asking for greater while insisting that you should never have to change. Remember, the cost of transition is letting go of the excuse you have used for years, it is accepting responsibility for a decision without blaming the circumstances surrounding it. It is learning to receive a no without allowing disappointment to become rebellion. It is choosing consistency when nobody is watching or allowing God to develop your character before you receive the opportunity you have been praying for. And it is admitting, “I should be further along in this area, and I am ready to do the work required to grow.” That admission does not have to come from shame, it comes from hope. Because the fact that you recognize an area where you need to grow means you have an opportunity to begin responding differently today.

Philippians 1:6 reminds you that “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God is not finished with you. But as He continues His work, you are called to participate through faith, obedience, and a willingness to be taught. And remember, Sunshine, spiritual maturity is not the same as spiritual independence. Getting off the milk does not mean you no longer need encouragement, teaching, prayer, or the support of other believers. It does not mean you have reached a point where you can no longer stumble or where you should be ashamed to ask for help. Mature believers continue learning, receiving correction, and depending on God. The difference is that you are no longer content to remain unchanged.

Now you have begun taking responsibility for applying what you have learned. You recognize when you need help and seek it rather than pretending everything is fine. You stop treating every difficult situation as though you have never encountered God’s truth before. Instead, you ask, “What has God already taught me that I need to put into practice right here?” And as you grow, your discernment begins to develop. You start recognizing patterns earlier. You become more attentive to the difference between what your flesh wants and what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. You begin noticing when an opportunity is drawing you away from your priorities, when a conversation is moving toward unnecessary conflict, or when a familiar desire is trying to regain influence over you.

You may still feel the pull of an old pattern, but you are learning that you do not have to follow it.

That is growth. You may still have moments when you want to respond the way you once did, but now you recognize that you have another choice. That is growth. You may still need to have a difficult conversation, but instead of avoiding it for weeks, you pray, prepare, and approach it with truth and love. That is growth. You may still be learning how to discern God’s direction, but you are becoming more willing to seek Him before making a decision rather than asking Him to approve one you have already made. That is growth. Please do not despise the beginning of your journey, and do not become discouraged because there are areas where you still need to mature. But do not make a permanent home in a stage God is calling you to grow beyond.

Milk was meant to nourish you at the beginning, not become an excuse to refuse the solid food that will strengthen you for what comes next. Today, ask the Holy Spirit to show you one area where you have been hearing the lesson but have not consistently practiced it. Do not begin by examining everybody else’s maturity. Begin with your own heart. Ask God what you already know but need to start doing. Because the next step in your journey may not require another explanation. It may require you to exercise what God has already taught you.

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father, thank You for continuing to teach me and for loving me enough not to leave me where I began. Thank You for every lesson, every correction, every opportunity to grow, and every moment when Your Word has challenged the way I think and live. As I come before You today, I ask You to search my heart and show me where I have become comfortable with hearing Your Word without consistently applying it. Help me recognize the areas where I have been revisiting the same lesson because I have not yet responded to what You have already shown me. Father, forgive me for the times I have confused knowing Your Word with living Your Word. Forgive me for the moments when I have been quick to recognize what someone else needs to change but slow to acknowledge what You are addressing in me. Remove pride, defensiveness, and the need to justify every response. Give me a teachable spirit and a heart that welcomes Your correction, even when it challenges something I have grown accustomed to doing. Holy Spirit help me move beyond spiritual infancy. Teach me to receive the deeper truths of Your Word and give me the courage to practice them. When I am frustrated, remind me of what You have taught me about patience. When I am offended, help me remember what You have taught me about forgiveness and self-control. When I face a difficult conversation, give me the maturity to speak truth in love rather than allowing fear, anger, or avoidance to determine my response. When I am tempted to return to an old pattern, remind me that I have already learned another way to walk. Lord, I do not want to keep asking You to take me into new territory while refusing to develop the discipline and maturity that new territory requires. Help me accept responsibility for my choices. Teach me to stop making excuses for what I need to address and to stop postponing the obedience You are asking of me today. Where I need wisdom, help me seek it. Where I need correction, help me receive it. Where I need support, give me the humility to ask for it. And where I already know what is right, give me the strength to follow through. Father, develop my discernment as I exercise what You have taught me. Help me recognize the difference between what is familiar and what is beneficial, between what my flesh desires and what Your Spirit is directing me to do. Let my spiritual senses become more attentive through prayer, study, obedience, and practice. Teach me to recognize the warning signs I once ignored and to respond to Your direction before a small compromise becomes a familiar pattern. Thank You that You are not finished with me. I do not have to become everything You are developing in me overnight, but I do need to remain willing to grow. Help me be faithful in the small decisions, consistent in the private moments, and obedient when the lesson I have learned is tested in real life. Let my words, attitudes, relationships, responsibilities, and daily choices begin reflecting the maturity You are producing in me.  Lord, I do not want to remain where I began simply because it is comfortable. I want to grow in Your Word, become stronger in discernment, and learn to follow the Holy Spirit with greater consistency. Let my desire for greater be matched by my willingness to mature. Continue the good work You have begun in me and help me become a doer of Your Word and not a hearer only. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nugget: Spiritual maturity is not measured only by how much of God’s Word you know, but by how willing you are to live what He has taught you. Don’t keep returning to the beginning because you refuse to practice the lesson. Get off the milk, exercise your discernment, and let your daily choices show that you are growing. Think about a lesson God has brought to your attention more than once. It may involve patience, forgiveness, discipline, boundaries, stewardship, communication, or trusting Him with something you cannot control. Ask yourself: “What do I already know God is asking me to do, and what has kept me from consistently putting it into practice?” Choose one specific way to exercise that lesson today. Do not wait until you feel completely ready. Begin with the opportunity already in front of you.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean….

Who’s Leading You? We are going from Crucifying the Flesh to Walking in the Spirit. I so thought that we were finished with this, but God.

We spent the last five days talking about crucifying the flesh. We dealt with the hard stuff. We talked about how your flesh does not get the final say, how you have to stop feeding what you are trying to crucify, how denying yourself is not denying your destiny, and how new territory requires new discipline. We even talked about those difficult conversations that sometimes have to be had whether we want to have them or not. By the time we reached Day Five, I thought, “Okay, Lord, we got it. Crucify it, surrender it, and let the Holy Spirit lead.” But sometimes you can think God has finished speaking simply because He has finished one part of the conversation. And that is what happened to me during this season.

So, after re-reading Monday’s devotional and another devotional that I read, this scripture came front and center. All I can say, ole my God after I read 1 Corinthians 6:12, and the words would not leave me alone; “I will not be brought under the power of any.” I stopped right there. We had just spent an entire week talking about crucifying our flesh, and now the Lord was causing me to look at something deeper. It was almost as though He was asking, “Now that you have identified what needs to die, have you examined what still has power over you?” Did you know that there is a difference between putting something down and no longer being controlled by it.

You can put something down temporarily and still want it. You can walk away and still keep looking backward. You can stop doing something outwardly while continuing to entertain it inwardly. You can even call something surrendered while secretly leaving the door cracked in case you decide you want to return. That is why Paul’s words struck me differently: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.” In other words, maturity cannot always be measured by the question, “Am I allowed to do this?” Sometimes maturity asks, “Is this helping me become who God is calling me to be?”

And that is where transition comes with a cost. We love to talk about transition when we are talking about going somewhere greater. We celebrate new seasons, new territory, new opportunities, new relationships, new assignments, and new doors. But we do not always talk about what transition requires you to leave behind. You cannot transition while insisting on carrying everything from the previous season with you. There is a cost to becoming.

Sometimes the cost is a habit. Sometimes it is your comfort. Sometimes it is your need to be understood. Sometimes it is a relationship that continually pulls you backward. Sometimes it is an attitude, an appetite, an old way of thinking, your need to control everything, or the version of yourself that learned how to survive one season but cannot lead you effectively into the next one. Jesus said in Luke 14:28, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost?” There is a cost associated with building. And if God is building something different in you, there will be a cost associated with becoming the person who can carry it and crucifying your flesh was part of that cost. I am truly beginning to understand that crucifying something is not always the end of the process. Sometimes crucifixion creates space for transition. God removes what has been governing you so that He can teach you how to live under a different kind of leadership.

Then, as I read Tuesday’s devotional from Hebrews 5:11–14, the conversation shifted from the need for control to the importance of spiritual maturity. The writer essentially says, By now, you should be further along. There were people who should have been able to handle solid food, but they still needed milk. And verse 14 says that mature believers have their senses exercised “to discern both good and evil.” And that made me ask another question: What if some of the things God is requiring me(you) to leave behind are not punishment at all? What if they are evidence that He expects me to mature? There are things you may have needed in one season that you cannot continue needing forever. There are reactions God may have tolerated while He was developing you that He is now confronting. The excuses that may have explained your yesterday cannot continue to govern your tomorrow. At some point, you must choose to grow, and growth will require something of you.

It will cost you the comfort of always doing what you have always done. It may cost you the luxury of blaming everybody else. It may cost you some conversations you have been avoiding. It may cost you the need to always have the last word. It may cost you immediate gratification because you finally understand that what feels good right now can interfere with what God is developing for later.

Then Wednesday came, and I read Romans 8 and this was the icing on the cake, so here we are again in this week, for all the scriptures began to come together. First Corinthians asked, “What has power over you?” Hebrews asked, “Are you mature enough to discern?” And Romans 8 essentially asked, “Who is leading you?” Romans 8:5 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Then Romans 8:14 declares, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

I realized that Crucify It was not the end. It was preparation for transition. God was not simply teaching us what needed to die. He is preparing us to recognize what should live. He is not simply saying, “Stop letting your flesh lead you.” He is preparing us for the next question: “Will you now allow My Spirit to lead you?” And this my sister and brother is where the cost of transition lives.

You cannot ask the Holy Spirit to lead while reserving the right to overrule Him whenever His direction becomes uncomfortable. You cannot say, “Lead me,” and then only follow when His direction agrees with your preference. Spirit-led living means sometimes He will tell you no when your flesh wants yes. Sometimes He will tell you wait when you are ready to move. Sometimes He will tell you move when you would rather remain comfortable. Sometimes He will tell you be quiet when you have the perfect response prepared. Sometimes He will tell you to have the conversation you have been avoiding and sometimes He will tell you to release it when everything inside you wants to hold on.

Now I don’t want you to misunderstand the cost of what is being asked of you. What God is asking you to surrender is not greater than what surrender produces in you. Romans 8:6 says, “To be spiritually minded is life and peace.” There is something on the other side of surrender. There is life. There is peace. There is maturity. There is discernment. There is freedom from things that once controlled you. So, the question is no longer simply, “What do I have to give up?” The question becomes, “What is God trying to grow in me that requires me to release this?” And this changes the conversation. Now we are going for another five days. Not because Crucify It did not work; but because God apparently was not finished with the conversation. We crucified it, now we are going to count the cost of transition, examine what still has power, get off the milk, exercise our discernment, renew our minds, and learn to live under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Because after everything we have surrendered, everything we have learned, and everything God has been showing us, this one question still remains, who’s leading you now?

Let’s Begin Day 1: Good Morning Sunshine! Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should!

1 Corinthians 6:12 (NKJV) ~ “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul is addressing believers in Corinth who were learning what it meant to belong to Christ while living in a culture where many behaviors were treated as normal and acceptable. Some had begun using their freedom as a reason to justify their choices. Paul responds by making an important distinction: something may be permissible, but that does not automatically make it beneficial. And even when you have the freedom to do something, you must not allow it to become your master.

Paul’s words were not an invitation to do whatever you wanted. In the surrounding verses, he specifically addresses sexual immorality and reminds believers that their bodies belong to the Lord. His larger point is that your freedom in Christ is not permission to live without regard for God’s purpose. You have been given freedom so that you can live for Him and not so that another desire can take control of you. And that brings us to today’s question: Just because you can, does that mean you should?

So, let’s get started, you just finished learning what and how to crucify your flesh. You examined your desires, your habits, your reactions, your discipline, and even those difficult conversations you would sometimes rather avoid. You were challenged to stop feeding what you are trying to crucify and to stop allowing your flesh to have the final say. But now you are standing at another point in the journey, and the Holy Spirit is asking you to look a little deeper. You may have stopped doing something, but has it stopped having power over you? Now this is not a question that you should rush to answer, (sit in this and write the question and the answer down.)

Sometimes you can put something down without truly releasing its hold on you. You can stop responding to a particular person but still spend hours rehearsing what you wish you had said. You can decide to change a habit but continue arranging your day around the opportunity to return to it. You can walk away from something outwardly while still allowing it to occupy your thoughts, direct your emotions, and influence your decisions. This is why Paul’s declaration matters: “I will not be brought under the power of any.” He is not merely asking whether he has permission. He is refusing to surrender his freedom to something that would control him. You see the things that had been controlling you are not the things you immediately recognize as wrong. Think about it, it could be your phone, your schedule, your spending, your appetite, your desire to be noticed, or your need to know what everybody thinks about you.

Or it may be your need to respond immediately when someone says something you do not like. It may be your desire to have the last word, your need to fix everybody else’s problems, or your inability to rest because you feel that everything depends on you. None of these things should be examined only by how they look from the outside. The deeper question is, “What happens inside me when I cannot have it, cannot do it, cannot control it, or cannot get the response I want?” You see if you become consumed by the thought of it, if your peace disappears when it is unavailable, or if you repeatedly set aside what you know God is asking of you to satisfy that desire, it may be time to examine how much influence you have given it.

Now, this is where the conversation becomes personal. You may be able to explain why you do what you do. You may have a reason for your response, a history behind your habit, or a justification for the decision you want to make. But having an explanation does not always mean you should continue allowing that thing to govern you. Sometimes spiritual maturity requires you to acknowledge, “I understand why I developed this pattern, but I cannot keep allowing it to lead me.”

Think about how often you ask, “What’s wrong with it?” You may ask that question about what you watch, what you say, what you purchase, where you go, whom you spend time with, or how you choose to respond. But what if the Holy Spirit is inviting you to ask a different question? “Is this helping me become who God is calling me to be?” Something may be enjoyable without being helpful in every circumstance. Something may be available without being appropriate for this season. Something may have served a purpose in your life before but no longer deserves the amount of time, attention, or influence you are giving it now.

You do not have to call everything bad in order to recognize that it is not beneficial for you. Consider your time, and I know that I have mentioned your phone earlier, but you need to see this again; yes, you have the freedom to spend an evening scrolling through your phone, watching television, or doing something you enjoy; but you need to know that rest and recreation have their place in your life also. But if you continually tell yourself that you do not have time to pray, study the Word, complete an important responsibility, or have a needed conversation, you may need to examine what has been receiving your attention. The question is not whether you are allowed to enjoy your evening. The question is whether your choices are supporting or working against the life you say you want to live.

Consider your words, you may have every opportunity to respond when someone offends you and you may even have a valid point to make. But Proverbs 15:1 reminds you that “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Just because you can say something does not mean it needs to be said in that moment, in that tone, or in that way. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will lead you to speak truth in love. Other times, He will lead you to pause, listen, and allow your emotions to settle before you speak. And remember those difficult conversations we discussed during Crucify It. You cannot use today’s message as an excuse to avoid them. There is a difference between being led to remain silent for a moment and using silence to escape a conversation you know needs to happen. Discernment requires you to seek God’s wisdom about what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. Your flesh may want to attack, withdraw, defend itself, or avoid the issue altogether. The Holy Spirit can lead you toward a response that is truthful, loving, and mature.

Consider your desire to be in control. You may be capable of managing a situation, solving a problem, or stepping in when someone else is struggling. But does every situation require your involvement? Are you helping because God is leading you to help, or because you are uncomfortable when things happen without your input? Sometimes the most difficult thing for you to surrender is not a bad habit. It is your belief that you must be the one who makes everything work. Proverbs 3:5–6 calls you to trust in the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding. That means you can acknowledge what you know and what you are capable of doing while still asking God whether He wants you to act. Your ability to do something does not automatically make it your assignment.

You have been praying about the next season of your life. You have been asking God for greater wisdom, greater opportunities, healthier relationships, deeper spiritual understanding, and the discipline to carry what He places in your hands. But you cannot keep asking God to lead you into something new while insisting that every old desire must be accommodated along the way. For the cost of transition is the ability to give up something that you are perfectly capable of doing because you recognize that it is no longer helping you grow. Sometimes it is choosing not to purchase something because wisdom is calling you to steward your resources differently. Sometimes it is declining an opportunity because you recognize that an open door is not automatically your assignment. Sometimes it is refusing to participate in a conversation that feeds offense, comparison, or gossip, even when you have something you could contribute. And sometimes the cost is admitting that you have been allowing something to control you while continuing to call it a preference.

You see the purpose of this examination is not to make you fearful of every choice or convince you that enjoying life is wrong. The Holy Spirit is not leading you into a life of constant suspicion and condemnation. He is teaching you to recognize the difference between enjoying something and being governed by it, between making a free choice and responding to an appetite that you have stopped questioning. Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” You have been given freedom in Christ. Do not voluntarily hand that freedom back to something that cannot give you life.

So today, take a close look at the things you routinely say yes to. Not only the obvious temptations, but the familiar patterns you rarely stop to question. Examine what receives your time, what shapes your thoughts, what triggers your reactions, and what influences your decisions. Ask yourself whether you can willingly set something aside when the Holy Spirit directs you to do so. You do not need to prove your freedom by participating in everything available to you. Sometimes your freedom is most clearly demonstrated by your ability to say, “I can, but I choose not to.”

And as you begin your new journey, remember that you are not trying to earn God’s love by making perfect decisions, but you are learning to live as someone who already belongs to Him. You are allowing His Word to mature your judgment and His Spirit to guide your choices. Yesterday’s question may have been, “What do I need to crucify?” Today’s question is, “What am I still allowing to have power over me?” Do not be afraid to ask it. And when the Holy Spirit shows you something, do not rush to defend it. Bring it before God. Ask Him to help you understand its influence, establish the boundaries you need, and make a different choice. Because just because you can does not mean you should. And just because something is available does not mean it deserves access to you. You have been given freedom. Now learn to walk in it without allowing anything else to become your master.

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me enough to continue teaching me even when I think I have reached the end of a lesson. Thank You for what You have already revealed as I have worked through crucifying my flesh. Now, as I begin this next part of my journey, I invite You to search my heart and show me what still has more influence over me than it should. Help me not to rush past this question or defend the things You are asking me to examine. Give me the humility to acknowledge what is true and the courage to respond to what You reveal. Holy Spirit, teach me the difference between what I am free to do and what is beneficial for me to do. Help me recognize when a desire, habit, emotion, relationship, responsibility, or opportunity is beginning to govern my choices. Where I have confused my ability with my assignment, give me wisdom. Where I have allowed my appetite to make decisions for me, strengthen my self-control. Where I have allowed my need for approval, comfort, recognition, or control to direct my actions, teach me to find my security in You. Father, I do not want to leave one season of bondage only to become entangled in something else. If there is anything I keep returning to in my thoughts, anything I continue making excuses for, or anything I am unwilling to surrender when You ask, help me bring it honestly before You. Teach me to establish healthy boundaries without becoming fearful, to enjoy Your good gifts without allowing them to control me, and to make wise decisions without depending solely on my own understanding. God, as You prepare me for what is ahead, help me accept the cost of transition. Give me the strength to say no when no is necessary, to wait when waiting is wise, to speak when truth needs to be spoken, and to remain silent when my flesh simply wants the last word. Help me recognize that every opportunity does not require my participation and every desire does not require my agreement. Let my choices reflect the maturity You are developing in me. Lord, I want my next season to be marked not merely by new opportunities but by a deeper dependence on You. Let my freedom produce obedience, my obedience develop discernment, and my discernment keep me attentive to Your Spirit. When I am tempted to ask only, “Can I do this?” remind me to ask, “Does this honor You? Is this helpful? Is this where You are leading me?”  Thank You that I do not have to walk this journey in my own strength. Continue the work You have begun in me, and help me surrender whatever competes with Your leadership. I declare that my flesh does not get the final say, and I will not willingly give another desire the authority that belongs to You. In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nugget: Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Freedom is not the need to say yes to everything available to you; it is the ability to say no to anything that should not have power over you. Let the Holy Spirit lead your choices, not merely your desires. Before you make a familiar choice today, pause and ask yourself: “Is this helpful, or have I simply become accustomed to doing it? Can I set it aside if the Holy Spirit leads me to?” You do not have to examine your entire life at once. Begin with one area where you sense that your habits or desires may be influencing you more than you realize.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean….

Galatians 5:24–25 (NKJV) — “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Throughout Galatians 5, Paul teaches believers what it means to live in the freedom Christ has given them. Freedom does not mean that you are free to follow every desire, emotion, or impulse. Instead, you have been set free so that you can live under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Paul acknowledges that there will be an ongoing conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, but he does not leave you without direction. He tells you plainly, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

By the time Paul reaches verses 24–25, he reminds you of who you belong to: “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Crucifying the flesh means those old desires no longer have the right to govern you simply because they are present. Then Paul immediately says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” In other words, something must replace the leadership the flesh once had. You do not simply empty yourself of old ways; you become increasingly filled with and led by the Holy Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit takes this beyond what happens in church, during prayer, or while reading your Bible. The Holy Spirit desires to lead you in your conversations, reactions, relationships, boundaries, habits, spending, decisions, opportunities, and private choices. He wants to lead you when you are peaceful and when you are frustrated, when you know exactly what to do and when you have no idea what comes next. The question becomes, “Who is leading me here, my flesh or the Spirit of God?” Just know that greater requires a more yielded version of you.

You have made it to Day Five, and everything we have talked about this week has been leading to this moment. This series began with a simple but challenging truth: sometimes it is tough to deny your flesh and what you want. Sometimes you do not even realize your flesh is leading until the Holy Spirit makes you aware of it. But if you want your next three years to be greater than your last three months, you cannot continue allowing yesterday’s habits, impulses, reactions, and undisciplined desires to determine tomorrow’s direction.

Day One reminded you that your flesh does not get the final say. You learned that every desire does not deserve a decision, every feeling does not require an action, and every thought does not deserve agreement. Day Two challenged you to stop feeding what you are trying to crucify, because you cannot continually water something and then wonder why it keeps growing. Day Three reminded you that denying yourself is not denying your destiny; sometimes the no you give your flesh is protecting the yes God has prepared for your future. Day Four brought it into everyday life by reminding you that discipline matters. New territory requires new discipline, and sometimes that discipline includes having difficult conversations, setting necessary boundaries, controlling your responses, and doing what needs to be done even when it is uncomfortable.

Now Day Five brings everything together with one question: Who will lead you from here?

Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” God does not want you to spend the rest of your life simply fighting your flesh. He wants you to become increasingly sensitive to His Spirit. There is a difference between constantly asking, “What am I not allowed to do?” and beginning each day asking, “Holy Spirit, how do You want me to walk today?” That changes everything.

Instead of only asking, “Can I say this?” you begin asking, “Does this honor God?” Instead of asking, “Can I go there?” you ask, “Is God leading me there?” Instead of asking, “Can I afford this?” you may also ask, “Is this wise stewardship?” Instead of asking, “Do I have the right to be angry?” you ask, “How does the Holy Spirit want me to respond to what happened?” Instead of immediately accepting every opportunity, you learn to ask, “Is this an open door, or is it a distraction?” This is spiritual maturity. You stop living only by what is permissible and begin living by what is purposeful.

First Corinthians 10:23 says, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.” Just because you can do something does not mean you should. Just because something is available does not mean it is assigned to you. Just because a door opens does not automatically mean God told you to walk through it. A Spirit-led life requires discernment. And this is especially important when God begins giving you what you have prayed for.

Sometimes you become most dependent upon God when you desperately need an answer. You pray harder because you do not know what to do. You seek Him because you cannot see the way. But what happens when things begin working? What happens when you gain experience, your confidence grows, doors begin opening, and you start believing, “I know how to handle this now”? That is when you must remain careful.

Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Your experience is valuable, but it cannot replace dependence upon God. Your wisdom has grown, but you still need His wisdom. Your anointing may have increased, but you still need His Presence. You may be more anointed today than you were yesterday, but greater anointing requires greater surrender. The goal is not to become so experienced that you no longer need to ask God what to do. The goal is to become so mature that seeking Him becomes your first response even when you think you already know what to do.

This is where your prayer, “God, help me walk the fine line as I pursue the narrow path,” becomes even more important. Matthew 7:14 says, “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.” The narrow path requires intentionality. You cannot allow every desire to pull you from side to side. There will be things that look good, feel good, sound good, and may even be good for somebody else, but they may not belong on the path God has assigned to you. The Holy Spirit helps you know the difference.

Isaiah 30:21 says, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” Sometimes His direction will require you to move, and sometimes it will require you to wait. Sometimes He will tell you to speak, and sometimes He will tell you to be silent. Sometimes He will tell you to stay and work through something, and sometimes He will tell you it is time to leave. Your responsibility is not to make God agree with what you have already decided. Your responsibility is to remain close enough to hear Him and yielded enough to obey.

And Sunshine, sometimes one of the clearest signs of growth is that you handle familiar situations differently. The situation may look the same, but you are not the same person who encountered it before. Something that once caused you to immediately react now causes you to pray first. A conversation you once avoided, you can now have with maturity. Something that once offended you for days no longer has the same power over you. A temptation that once controlled you may still knock, but now you recognize it before opening the door. That is growth.

Second Corinthians 3:18 says that you are being “transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Transformation does not always happen dramatically. Sometimes it happens quietly through hundreds of decisions nobody else sees. Every time you choose the Spirit instead of the flesh, something is being strengthened in you. Do not become discouraged because you still have areas where you are growing. Galatians 5:17 already told you that the flesh and Spirit are contrary to one another. The presence of a struggle does not mean there has been no growth. Sometimes growth is revealed by who wins the decision now. Your flesh may still speak, but it does not have to lead.

And remember, crucifying your flesh is not about becoming miserable, emotionless, or afraid to enjoy life. God is not trying to remove your personality, creativity, passion, joy, or dreams. He is bringing those things under His leadership so they can serve His purpose instead of controlling you. Galatians 5:22–23 tells you what begins growing when the Spirit leads: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That is what greater should look like too.

If your next three years are going to be greater than your last three months, do not measure greater only by what you acquire. Greater may be that you have more peace. Greater may be that you no longer have to respond to everything. Greater may be that your prayer life is stronger, your boundaries are healthier, your relationships are more mature, your decisions are wiser, your emotions are more disciplined, and your obedience is quicker.

Sometimes greater is who you become before it is what you receive. Philippians 1:6 says, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God is still working. These five days were never about becoming perfect by Friday. They were about becoming more aware, more intentional, more disciplined, and more yielded. So, take the lessons with you. When your flesh speaks, remember that it does not get the final say. When something you are trying to overcome keeps growing, check what you are feeding. When obedience requires you to say no to yourself, remember that denying yourself is not denying your destiny. When you do not feel like doing what needs to be done, remember that discipline is preparing you for new territory. And when you are unsure which way to go, do not allow your flesh, emotions, fear, pride, or impatience to lead you. Let the Holy Spirit lead.

You do not have to figure out your next three years today. God is asking you to walk with Him today. Then, if He gives you tomorrow, get up and walk with Him again. One prayer at a time. One decision at a time. One disciplined choice at a time. One difficult conversation at a time. One act of obedience at a time. That is how you walk in the Spirit.

The goal of this series was never merely to teach you how to say no to your flesh. It was to help you develop a greater yes to God. Let your yes become stronger than your appetite, stronger than your feelings, stronger than your need to be right, stronger than your impatience, stronger than your fear, and stronger than your desire to have everything your own way. Your flesh may still have something to say, but it no longer gets to decide where you go. Let the Spirit lead.

Let’s Pray:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for bringing me through another week and for every truth You have revealed along the way. Thank You for loving me enough to confront the things that could hinder my growth while giving me grace to become who You are calling me to be. I do not receive Your correction as condemnation; I receive it as evidence that You are still working in me. Holy Spirit, I give You permission to lead every area of my life. Lead my thoughts before they become words, my emotions before they become reactions, my desires before they become decisions, and my decisions before they become consequences. Lead me in my relationships, conversations, finances, responsibilities, opportunities, habits, boundaries, ministry, family, and private choices. I do not want to invite You into only the areas where I am confused. Teach me to seek You even when I think I know what to do. Father, help me recognize when my flesh is trying to take control. When pride speaks, teach me humility. When impatience speaks, teach me to wait. When anger speaks, give me self-control. When fear speaks, remind me of Your faithfulness. When offense speaks, help me choose forgiveness. When comfort tells me to procrastinate, strengthen me to be disciplined. When my flesh wants to avoid a necessary conversation, give me courage to speak truth in love, and when my flesh wants to say too much, give me wisdom to be quiet. Help me stop feeding what You are asking me to crucify. Show me where I continue giving attention, access, time, or energy to something that is working against the person You are developing me to become. Give me courage to close doors that need to close and wisdom to establish boundaries that protect what You are building in me. Father, when denying myself feels like I am losing something, remind me that surrender to You is never wasted. If You say no, help me trust You. If You say wait, help me remain faithful. If You redirect me, help me follow without constantly looking backward. I would rather have Your will than something I forced because I was unwilling to wait for You. Develop discipline in me for the new territory You are preparing me to steward. Help me do what needs to be done even when I do not feel like doing it. Teach me to honor small acts of obedience and not despise small beginnings. Make me consistent in prayer, faithful in Your Word, disciplined with my time, careful with my words, wise with my resources, and responsible with what You have already placed in my hands. Father, I want my next three years to be greater than my last three months, but today I understand greater differently. I do not only want more opportunities; I want more wisdom. I do not only want greater influence; I want greater humility. I do not only want greater territory; I want greater discipline. I do not only want greater anointing; I want greater surrender. As You increase the anointing upon my life, increase my dependence upon You. Do not allow familiarity, experience, success, or confidence to make me believe I can navigate new territory without Your Presence. Keep me close enough to hear Your voice and humble enough to obey it. God, help me walk the fine line as I pursue the narrow path. Guard me from distractions disguised as opportunities. Teach me that every open door is not necessarily my door and everything good is not necessarily my assignment. Give me discernment to know what You have chosen for me and courage to leave alone what You have not.

Holy Spirit, produce Your fruit in me. Let love govern how I treat people, joy remain when circumstances change, peace guard my heart, patience steady me while I wait, kindness and goodness shape my interactions, faithfulness keep me consistent, gentleness govern my strength, and self-control help me say no when my flesh demands yes. Thank You that You are not finished with me. When I stumble, help me rise. When I miss it, correct me. When I become distracted, refocus me. When I become tired, strengthen me. When I become uncertain, remind me that I do not need to know the entire road as long as I remain close to the One who does. So today I choose to walk in the Spirit. My flesh does not get the final say. My emotions do not get the final say. My past does not get the final say. Fear does not get the final say. Pride does not get the final say. You do, Lord. Father, lead me one day, one decision, one conversation, one boundary, one act of discipline, and one yes at a time. Continue the good work You have begun in me and prepare me for everything You have prepared for me. God my prayer is no longer simply, “God, give me greater.” My prayer is, “God, make me ready for greater, and when greater comes, keep me close to You.” In Jesus Christ Name, Amen.

Nugget ~ Your flesh may still speak, but it no longer has to lead. Greater is not only about what God places in your hands; it is about who you become while carrying it. Let the Holy Spirit lead, let discipline protect what God is developing, and let your yes to God become stronger than your yes to yourself.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…

Have A Blessed Weekend…

1 Corinthians 9:26–27 (NKJV) — “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul uses the imagery of an athlete preparing for competition to teach believers about spiritual discipline. The people of Corinth were familiar with athletic contests, so they would have understood the commitment required of someone preparing to compete. An athlete could have talent, desire, and potential, but without training and self-control, those things alone would not prepare that person to finish well.

Paul says in verse 25, “Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.” The word temperate points to self-control. An athlete understands that preparation sometimes requires saying no to what feels good now because there is something greater being pursued. Training determines what happens long before the competition begins.

Paul then makes the illustration personal. He says, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.” Paul understood that he could preach truth to others while still needing discipline in his own life. His calling did not exempt him from self-control, and his anointing did not remove his responsibility to govern himself. He refused to allow his appetites, desires, or impulses to become his master.

This brings the first three days of our journey into clearer focus. Day One reminded you that your flesh does not get the final say. Day Two challenged you to stop feeding what you are trying to crucify. Day Three taught you that denying yourself is not denying your destiny. Now Day Four asks whether you are willing to develop the discipline necessary to protect what God is developing in you. It is one thing to desire change; it is another thing to develop habits that support it.

Today we need to talk about something that may not always feel exciting, but it can change the direction of your life: discipline. There will be days when you feel motivated to pray, read your Bible, work on your assignment, exercise self-control, forgive, save money, complete the task, maintain the boundary, or do whatever God has placed before you. Then there will be days when you simply do not feel like doing any of it. That is where discipline enters the conversation.

Your feelings are real, and they should not always be ignored, but they were never designed to govern every decision you make. Feelings change. You can feel motivated in the morning and discouraged by afternoon. You can feel confident today and uncertain tomorrow. If obedience depends entirely upon how you feel, consistency will always be difficult.

Paul says, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.” Notice that Paul does not say, “I wait until my body agrees with what I need to do.” He brings it into subjection. In other words, there are times when you must tell yourself what you are going to do instead of continually allowing yourself to tell you.

This is where Day Four gets personal. You may have spent years praying, “God, change my life,” while God has been saying, “I want to change some of your habits.” You may be praying for greater while resisting the routines, boundaries, consistency, and self-control that greater will required, discipline is not punishment, it is preparation.

Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” There is that word from Day Three again: afterward. Discipline has an afterward. What feels inconvenient today may produce something valuable tomorrow.

Think about your statement that has been guiding this series: If you want your next three years to be greater than your last three months, it is time to crucify your flesh. Three years are not built in one dramatic decision. They are built through thousands of seemingly small choices. What you repeatedly do today can eventually become the life you are living tomorrow.

Galatians 6:7 says, “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Discipline understands that today’s seed and tomorrow’s harvest are connected. You cannot continually plant inconsistency and expect to harvest stability. You cannot continually plant procrastination and expect to harvest productivity. You cannot continually plant uncontrolled spending and expect financial discipline. You cannot continually plant neglect into your prayer life and expect spiritual sensitivity. This does not mean you will execute every discipline perfectly. It means you stop allowing one imperfect day to become permission for an undisciplined life.

Sometimes your flesh uses one mistake to convince you to abandon the whole process. You miss one day and think, “Well, I’ve already messed up.” You break one boundary and think there is no point in continuing. You respond incorrectly once and conclude that you have not changed at all. Do not believe that that is a trick of the enemy.

Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again.” Discipline is not demonstrated by never stumbling; sometimes discipline is demonstrated by how quickly you get back up and return to what you know you are supposed to do.  Do not turn one bad decision into seven more because you are disappointed with yourself. Get back up.

This is also why you have to stop waiting for motivation to do what requires discipline. Motivation can help you begin, but it cannot always be trusted to help you continue. Some mornings prayer may feel powerful, while other mornings you may sit before God and struggle to concentrate. Pray anyway. Some days the assignment may excite you, while other days you may wonder why you started. Remain faithful anyway. Some days the boundary may feel easy, while on another day everything in you may want to cross it. Honor it anyway.

Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Due season requires you to continue through days when the harvest is not visible. Consistency is what keeps you sowing while you are waiting. This is where you need to understand the difference between desire and discipline. You can desire to become more prayerful without developing a prayer life. You can desire to become financially responsible without changing how you spend. You can desire better health without changing habits. You can desire to finish the book, build the business, grow the ministry, strengthen the relationship, or complete the assignment without developing routines that support those desires. Desire says, “I want it.” Discipline asks, “What am I willing to consistently do for it?”

Jesus teaches a powerful principle in Luke 16:10: “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.” Sometimes you are waiting for God to give you something big while He is watching how you steward something small. The little things matter because they reveal patterns. How do you steward the time you already have? How do you handle the assignment already in your hands? How do you respond to the instructions God has already given?

Greater does not begin when you receive more. Greater stewardship can begin with what is already in your hands. There is another area where new discipline becomes necessary: some conversations are hard to have, but they still must be had. Discipline is not only getting up when you said you would, keeping a schedule, controlling an appetite, or finishing an assignment. Sometimes discipline is sitting down and having the conversation you would rather avoid. It is speaking truth in love, addressing what needs to be addressed, apologizing when you were wrong, setting a necessary boundary, asking the difficult question, or saying what needs to be said without allowing your emotions to determine how you say it.

Do you remember last Wednesday’s devotional, “Your New Territory Requires New Discipline”? Well, Sunshine, this is where it really matters. It is one thing to say you are ready for new territory; it is another thing to develop the discipline required to live there. New territory may require a new level of communication. You cannot carry avoidance into a place that requires accountability. You cannot carry passive-aggressive behavior into a place that requires maturity. You cannot continue shutting down every time something becomes uncomfortable if God is calling you to build healthy relationships, lead people, strengthen a marriage, grow a ministry, manage a team, or steward greater responsibility.

Ephesians 4:15 tells you to “speak the truth in love.” Notice that Scripture requires both truth and love. Truth without love can become harsh, while love without truth can become avoidance. Spiritual maturity teaches you how to hold the two together. You can be honest without being cruel. You can be firm without being disrespectful. You can establish a boundary without becoming bitter. You can disagree without dishonoring someone. You can have a difficult conversation without allowing the conversation to become a destructive one.

This is where crucifying your flesh becomes very practical because your flesh may want to avoid the conversation altogether, or it may want to enter the conversation ready to fight. Neither response necessarily reflects the Spirit. James 1:19 says, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Sometimes discipline means praying before you speak, deciding beforehand that you will listen, refusing to interrupt, controlling your tone, and remembering that the purpose of the conversation is not to win but to bring clarity, healing, correction, understanding, or resolution.

And sometimes the difficult conversation is not with somebody else. Sometimes you need to have an honest conversation with yourself. You may need to admit, “I have been avoiding this.” “I have been making excuses.” “I was wrong.” “This relationship needs a boundary.” “This habit is affecting my future.” “I cannot continue blaming everybody else for something God is telling me to address.” Proverbs 28:13 reminds you that the person who covers sin will not prosper, “but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” Growth requires honesty, and honesty sometimes requires uncomfortable conversations.

Before entering a difficult conversation, ask the Holy Spirit, “What is my purpose for having this conversation? What needs to be said? What does not need to be said? What is the right time, the right tone, and the right spirit?” Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech always be with grace.” You do not have to say everything you could say just because you finally have the opportunity to speak. Discipline also governs what you leave unsaid.

Remember, new territory requires new discipline, and sometimes the evidence that you are ready for new territory is how you handle an old problem differently. Maybe the old you would have avoided it. Maybe the old you would have exploded. Maybe the old you would have sent the text immediately, withdrawn without explanation, or allowed resentment to grow because you did not want to address what happened. But you are growing now. The Holy Spirit is teaching you another way.

If God is taking you somewhere new, allow Him to teach you how to communicate there. Do not let an undisciplined mouth, unmanaged emotion, unresolved offense, or avoided conversation disrupt a future you have prayed too hard to reach. Sometimes the next evidence of your growth will not be another open door. It will be the way you sit down, pray first, have the hard conversation, speak the truth in love, listen with humility, and walk away knowing that you honored God in how you handled it.

This is also where discipline protects your anointing. You have said, “I’m more anointed today than I was yesterday.” If the anointing increases, discipline cannot decrease. Your gifting may open a door, but discipline helps you steward what happens after the door opens. Your gift may give you influence, but character determines how you handle that influence.

Paul understood this. That is why he was concerned that after preaching to others he could somehow become disqualified himself. He refused to assume that because God used him publicly, he could neglect himself privately. That is a word worth sitting with. Public anointing does not eliminate the need for private discipline. What happens when no one is watching matters. Your private prayer life matters. Your private thoughts matter. How you manage your emotions matters. What you entertain matters. What you do with your time matters. The boundaries you keep when nobody would know if you broke them matter.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:6, “When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place.” There is something about the secret place that prepares you for public assignments. What God develops privately often determines what you can carry publicly.

Discipline also means learning to tell the difference between rest and avoidance. Rest is biblical. Jesus Himself withdrew and rested. Your body and mind need restoration. But sometimes the flesh calls procrastination “rest” because it does not want to do what is uncomfortable. Ask yourself, “Am I resting so I can return stronger, or am I avoiding something I know I need to do?” There is no condemnation in that question. It simply requires honesty.

Proverbs 6:10–11 warns about continually saying, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.” The issue is not sleep itself; the warning concerns a pattern of delay. Small postponements repeated often enough can eventually become significant losses.

That applies spiritually too. “I’ll pray tomorrow.” “I’ll start next week.” “I’ll forgive later.” “I’ll work on it when things calm down.” “I’ll deal with that habit eventually.” Tomorrow can become a hiding place for the obedience God is asking from you today.

Sometimes crucifying your flesh sounds like, “I’m doing it today.” Not because you feel like it. Not because it is convenient. Not because somebody is watching. But because you know it is what God has placed before you. Psalm 119:60 says, “I made haste, and did not delay to keep Your commandments.” There are moments when delayed obedience allows the flesh more time to negotiate with something God has already made clear.

You also need discipline in your thought life. Second Corinthians 10:5 tells you to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Every thought that enters your mind does not deserve freedom to remain there. Some thoughts need to be challenged immediately. Some need to be replaced with truth. Some need to be recognized as fear, pride, comparison, offense, lust, insecurity, or condemnation rather than accepted as reality. Your mind needs boundaries too.

Philippians 4:8 gives you something better to think about: things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. Spiritual discipline includes deciding what you will allow yourself to repeatedly meditate upon.

Day Two asked, “What are you feeding?” Day Four asks, “What are you training?” Paul compared the Christian life to athletic preparation because training is intentional. An athlete does not accidentally become prepared. There is repetition. There are routines. There are things the athlete chooses to do and things the athlete chooses not to do because there is a goal ahead.

First Corinthians 9:24 says, “Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” Paul is telling you to live intentionally. Stop moving through your spiritual life as though there is no destination, no assignment, no purpose, and nothing worth protecting.

There is too much ahead of you to live without discipline. There is too much God has placed inside of you to allow every feeling to determine what happens next. There is too much purpose connected to your obedience to keep saying, “I’ll do it later.” Your next three years are coming one day at a time. You do not have to figure out every decision you will make during those years today. You simply have to become faithful with the choices sitting in front of you right now.

That may mean getting up when you said you would get up. It may mean keeping the boundary you established. It may mean finishing what you started. It may mean turning something off, putting something down, walking away, praying before reacting, or doing the difficult thing before the easy thing.

Zechariah 4:10 says not to despise “the day of small things.” Do not despise the small disciplined decision. It may not feel dramatic enough to matter, but small choices repeated consistently can create major change.

The five-minute prayer can become fifteen minutes. The one page can eventually become the book. The first saved dollar can become a new financial habit. The first healthy boundary can change the pattern of a relationship. The first time you choose silence instead of an emotional response can begin changing how you handle conflict. The first no to your flesh can strengthen your next no, and every no to the flesh creates room for a stronger yes to the Spirit.

This is why you cannot allow your flesh to disrupt the future God is developing. Your flesh will usually prefer what is comfortable, familiar, immediate, and satisfying. The Spirit is developing something deeper: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23).

Self-control is part of the fruit. You are not doing this alone. The same Holy Spirit who convicts you is available to strengthen you. Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” God is working not only on what you do, but even on your willingness to do it. So, when you struggle, ask Him for help.

“Holy Spirit, help me get up.” “Help me keep this boundary.” “Help me finish.” “Help me stay silent.” “Help me walk away.” “Help me remain consistent.” “Help me choose what I know is right even when I do not feel like doing it.” That is not weakness. That is dependence.

Day One taught you that your flesh does not get the final say. Day Two taught you to stop feeding what you are trying to crucify. Day Three taught you that denying yourself is not denying your destiny. And today, Day Four reminds you that surrender must eventually become discipline. You cannot control every circumstance that will happen during your next three years, but you can begin developing the person who will walk through them.

So train your thoughts. Guard your habits. Steward your time. Keep your boundaries. Honor your commitments. Stay in prayer. Stay in the Word. And when your feelings say, “I don’t feel like it,” ask the Holy Spirit for strength to do what God requires anyway. Discipline your flesh before your flesh disrupts the future God is preparing you to steward.

Let’s Pray:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for another day and another opportunity to grow. Thank You for reminding me that discipline is not punishment; it is preparation. You know what You have placed inside of me, and You know what You are preparing ahead of me. Help me become disciplined enough to steward what You entrust to my hands. Father, show me the areas where I have allowed my feelings to govern decisions that should be governed by Your Word and Your Spirit. My feelings are real, but I do not want them sitting on the throne of my life. When I do not feel like praying, help me pray. When I do not feel like being consistent, strengthen me to remain faithful. When I do not feel like forgiving, remind me of Your grace. When I do not feel like keeping a boundary, remind me why the boundary was necessary. Teach me to discipline myself without condemning myself. When I stumble, help me get back up quickly. Do not allow one mistake to become an excuse for returning to an old pattern. Give me the humility to acknowledge where I missed it, receive Your grace, make the necessary correction, and continue moving forward. Father, deliver me from continually postponing what You have already told me to do. Where I have said, “Tomorrow,” but You are saying, “Today,” give me strength to move. Where I have confused procrastination with rest, give me discernment. Teach me to rest when I need restoration and to rise when avoidance is trying to disguise itself as rest. Help me steward the small things. Teach me to value the quiet decisions that nobody sees. Let me become faithful with my time, my words, my thoughts, my money, my relationships, my responsibilities, my body, my gifts, and my assignments. Remind me that what I repeatedly do in private can prepare me for what You desire to entrust to me publicly. Father, discipline my thought life. When fear, comparison, pride, offense, insecurity, lust, bitterness, or condemnation attempts to settle in my mind, teach me to take those thoughts captive and bring them into obedience to Christ. Help me intentionally think on what is true, pure, lovely, praiseworthy, and pleasing to You. I ask You to strengthen my secret place. Do not allow public activity to replace private intimacy. As You increase what You do through me, deepen what You are doing in me. If You increase my anointing, increase my discipline. If You enlarge my territory, enlarge my prayer life. If You increase my influence, increase my humility and character. Father, I want my next three years to be greater than my last three months, and I understand that those years will be built one day at a time. Help me stop looking only for dramatic change and begin honoring daily obedience. Give me grace to make the small decisions today that will support the future I am praying for. Holy Spirit, develop self-control in me. Help me govern my appetites, reactions, words, habits, thoughts, and impulses. When my flesh wants comfort more than obedience, strengthen my spirit. When my flesh wants immediate gratification, remind me of the afterward. When my flesh says, “Later,” but You have said, “Now,” give me courage to obey without delay. Father, I surrender my routines to You. Show me what needs to begin, what needs to stop, what needs to become consistent, and what needs a stronger boundary. Help me stop expecting a different harvest while continually planting the same seeds. Thank You that I do not have to accomplish this through willpower alone. Your Word says that You work in me both to will and to do for Your good pleasure. Work in my desires. Work in my habits. Work in my thinking. Work in my private choices. Give me both the desire and the strength to do what pleases You. Prepare me for what You are preparing for me. I do not want my gifting to take me somewhere my character cannot sustain me. I do not want my anointing to open a door that my lack of discipline causes me to mishandle. Develop me before the opportunity comes and continue developing me after it arrives. Day by day, decision by decision, teach me to walk in the Spirit. My flesh does not get the final say, and my feelings do not determine my obedience. I choose discipline over temporary comfort, consistency over convenience, obedience over impulse, and Your future for me over what satisfies me only for the moment. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nugget ~ Your next three years will be built through today’s choices. Don’t wait until you feel like becoming disciplined. Ask the Holy Spirit for strength, honor the small acts of obedience, and train today for what God is preparing you to carry tomorrow.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…

Luke 9:23–24 (NKJV) — “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.’”

In Luke 9, Jesus had just asked His disciples one of the most important questions they would ever answer: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter responded that Jesus was the Christ of God. Jesus then began explaining that following the Christ would not look the way many expected. He spoke about His coming suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection, and then turned the conversation from what He would endure to what would be required of those who chose to follow Him.

Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” He was describing discipleship as more than believing something about Him; following Him would require surrender. To deny yourself does not mean believing you have no value or refusing every good thing in life. It means refusing to allow self—your will, desires, preferences, impulses, and personal agenda to occupy the place that belongs to God.

The word daily is especially important. Jesus did not describe self-denial as a one-time decision. There would be new opportunities every day for the believer to choose between personal desire and God’s direction. Yesterday’s surrender cannot make today’s decision for you. You may have said yes to God yesterday and still need another yes today.

The cross also carried a much stronger meaning to Jesus’ original audience than it sometimes does today. The cross represented death. Therefore, when Jesus told His followers to take up their cross, He was calling them to a life in which their own will would continually be surrendered to God’s will. This connects directly to Galatians 5:24: “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” I have one question before we go father, are you willing to deny yourself when what you want conflicts with what God wants?

Today may challenge you because there are times when following God requires you to say no to something you genuinely want. Not everything you desire is necessarily sinful. Sometimes the issue is simply that what you want is not what God wants for you, not what He wants for you right now, or not the way He wants you to receive it.

That is where denying yourself becomes difficult. It is one thing to surrender something you no longer want. It is another thing to place something before God while part of you is still saying, “But I really want this.” Yet Jesus says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself.” In other words, your desire to follow Christ must eventually become greater than your desire to always have your own way.

Sometimes denying yourself means remaining silent when you have a response ready. Sometimes it means waiting when you believe you are ready to move. It may mean forgiving someone while your emotions are still hurt, walking away from something that feels good but is not good for you, establishing a boundary that your flesh does not like, or choosing discipline when comfort would be easier. Denying yourself can also mean releasing your need to control how God answers your prayers.

This is why today’s title is important: Denying yourself is not denying your destiny. Your flesh may interpret every no as a loss, but God’s no can be protection, preparation, redirection, or simply an invitation to trust His timing. You do not know everything God knows about the road ahead.

Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Sometimes denying yourself is simply refusing to lean on your own understanding when what you see and what God says appear to be going in different directions.

You may think, “God, this makes sense.” You may have planned it carefully. The opportunity may look perfect. The timing may seem right. Everybody around you may agree. Yet if the Holy Spirit is saying, “Not this,” “Not now,” or “Not this way,” you have to decide whether your confidence in what you see is greater than your trust in the God who sees what you cannot.

Psalm 84:11 says, “No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” That Scripture can help change the way you interpret God’s no. If God is withholding something, you can trust that He has a reason. If something truly belongs in His purpose for your life, you do not have to manipulate, compromise, force, or abandon obedience to obtain it.

At times you may think surrender is causing you to miss something when surrender is actually keeping you aligned with what God has prepared for you. Think about how often your flesh connects immediate gratification with happiness. It says, “If I could just have this, I would be satisfied.” Then you receive it, and before long your flesh wants something else. Proverbs 14:12 warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Everything that seems right, feels right, or looks right does not necessarily lead you where God wants you to go and that is why you need the Holy Spirit.

You are learning in this series that the goal is not merely to become better at saying no. The goal is to become better at saying yes to God. Every Spirit-led no makes room for a more meaningful yes. When you say no to unnecessary distraction, you can say yes to focus. When you say no to bitterness, you can say yes to healing. When you say no to impulsiveness, you can say yes to wisdom. When you say no to procrastination, you can say yes to discipline. When you say no to your need to control everything, you can say yes to trusting God.

This is why self-denial should not be understood only in terms of what you are giving up. You also need to consider what your surrender is making room for. Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Discipline does not always feel good while it is happening. The Scripture acknowledges that. But there is an afterward connected to discipline.

That word afterward matters when you are thinking about your next three years. There are choices you make today whose fruit you may not see immediately. A boundary established today may protect something months from now. A disciplined habit started today may position you differently a year from now. A relationship you surrender today may prevent years of unnecessary pain. A financial decision you make today may produce freedom later. A decision to deepen your prayer life today may prepare you spiritually for an assignment you cannot yet see and your flesh focuses heavily on right now, but wisdom considers afterward.

If you want your next three years to be greater than your last three months, you cannot allow every decision to be based on what feels best today. Sometimes you have to ask, “Where will this choice take me?” Not just tonight, not just tomorrow, but if I continue making this choice, where could it take me three months from now, one year from now, or three years from now?

Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” There is a due season attached to consistent obedience. You may not see immediate results every time you deny your flesh, but something is being developed in you each time you choose God’s way over your own.

You are developing discipline. You are developing discernment. You are developing patience. You are developing self-control. You are developing spiritual sensitivity. You are developing the ability to trust God when you do not understand Him. Those qualities matter because your future will require more than gifting. Your future will require character strong enough to carry what God places into your hands.

This brings you back to Galatians 5:24: “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Crucifixion sounds final, yet Jesus tells you to take up your cross daily because surrender continually shows up in new places. Something you surrendered yesterday may try to present itself differently today. A desire you thought you had conquered may knock again when you are tired, lonely, disappointed, frustrated, or impatient.

Do not become discouraged simply because you have to surrender something more than once. Keep choosing God. Romans 12:1 says, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” A living sacrifice has to remain surrendered. Every day gives you another opportunity to place your desires, plans, appetites, reactions, and preferences before God and say, “Father, this belongs to You too.”

And sometimes the thing God is asking you to deny is not an obvious sinful behavior. It may be your need to be understood. You can exhaust yourself trying to make everybody understand what God is doing in your life. You explain, defend, clarify, and repeatedly revisit something God has already settled in your spirit. There are moments when denying yourself means releasing your need for everybody to agree with your obedience.

Sometimes it is the need to be recognized. Sometimes it is the need to have the last word. Sometimes it is the need to fix everybody. Sometimes it is the need to control every outcome. Sometimes it is the need to be included in everything. Sometimes it is the need to immediately see results from what you have planted. The flesh is not limited to obvious appetites. Self can show up anywhere you insist that your way must prevail.

Philippians 2:3–5 tells believers to reject selfish ambition and develop the mind of Christ. Jesus Himself demonstrated humility and surrender. If you are asking God for greater anointing, greater influence, and greater territory, you also need to ask Him for a greater willingness to decrease where self keeps trying to increase. John the Baptist expressed this beautifully in John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” That is the heart of today’s lesson. Crucifying your flesh is not primarily about becoming less of a person; it is about making more room for Christ to govern the person you are becoming.

Your gifts do not have to decrease. Your purpose does not have to decrease. Your impact does not have to decrease. But pride, selfish ambition, uncontrolled appetites, impulsiveness, stubbornness, and the need to always have your way must lose their authority.

Remember what you learned on Day Two: stop feeding what you’re trying to crucify. Today you go one step further. When the flesh asks to be fed, you may have to deny it. You cannot starve something while continually giving it snacks.

That means there will be moments when you have to make a decision before your feelings agree with it. You may forgive before you feel forgiving. You may pray before you feel prayerful. You may obey before you understand. You may remain silent while part of you still wants to speak. You may walk away while part of you still wants to stay. Feelings can take time to catch up with obedience. Second Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Sometimes you also have to walk by faith rather than by feeling. Your feelings are real, but they are not always reliable leaders.

And Sunshine, do not confuse denying your flesh with denying yourself rest, joy, celebration, healthy desires, or the good gifts God gives. God is not calling you to live miserably. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Biblical self-denial is not rejecting life; it is rejecting whatever competes with Christ’s rightful leadership over your life.

Sometimes the thing you believe you are losing is actually standing between you and the freedom God wants you to experience. So today, ask yourself a difficult but necessary question: “What am I unwilling to hear God say no about?” That question may reveal something. If there is a relationship you desperately need God to approve, an opportunity you refuse to release, a habit you keep defending, an outcome you insist must happen, or a desire you cannot imagine surrendering, place it before God honestly. You do not have to pretend you do not want it. Jesus Himself demonstrated honest surrender in Gethsemane: “Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

That can become your prayer too: “Father, You know I want this, but I want Your will more. You know this is difficult for me to release, but I trust You. You know what I cannot see, and You know where this road leads. If it belongs in my future, teach me how to receive it Your way. If it does not, give me strength to release it without looking back.” That is not weakness. That is surrender, remember that your flesh does not get the final say. Day Two taught you to stop feeding what you’re trying to crucify. Day Three teaches you that when your flesh still wants what you have stopped feeding, you can deny it and keep following Jesus. You are not denying your destiny. You are denying anything that would keep you from walking fully in it.

Let’s Pray:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for another day and another opportunity to follow You. Thank You for loving me enough to lead me beyond what feels comfortable and into what will make me more like Christ. Today I hear Your invitation to deny myself, take up my cross daily, and follow You. Father, I confess that surrender is not always easy. There are things I want, outcomes I prefer, plans I have made, and answers I hope You will give. You know the desires I speak aloud and the ones I have never told anyone. I do not have to hide them from You because You already know my heart. Teach me to bring those desires honestly before You and still say, “Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, be done.” Help me trust that Your wisdom is greater than my understanding and that Your view of my future reaches places I cannot see. When You say no, help me trust You. When You say wait, give me patience. When You redirect me, help me follow without continually looking backward. When You require discipline, help me remember the fruit that can come afterward. When obedience is uncomfortable, remind me that temporary discomfort is not evidence that I have missed Your will. Father, show me where self has been occupying a place that belongs to You. Reveal pride, selfish ambition, stubbornness, uncontrolled appetites, impulsive reactions, the need to be right, the need to be recognized, the need to control outcomes, or the need for everyone to understand me. Show me whatever repeatedly competes with Your leadership. Give me strength to deny myself without believing that I am denying my future. Help me understand that every no to my flesh can become a stronger yes to You. When I say no to bitterness, help me choose forgiveness. When I say no to distraction, help me choose focus. When I say no to procrastination, help me choose discipline. When I say no to fear, help me choose faith. When I release control, help me choose trust. Father, teach me to think beyond the immediate moment. My flesh may want satisfaction now, but give me wisdom to consider the afterward. Help me make today’s choices with tomorrow’s assignment in mind. I want my next three years to be greater than my last three months, so give me courage to make decisions today that agree with the future I am praying for. Prepare my character for what You are preparing to place in my hands. Develop discipline, patience, discernment, humility, self-control, and spiritual sensitivity within me. Do not allow my gifts to grow faster than my character or my opportunities to become greater than my capacity to steward them well. Father, when my feelings disagree with obedience, help me walk by faith. When I do not feel like praying, draw me into prayer. When I do not feel like forgiving, help me choose forgiveness. When I want to speak but wisdom says be silent, guard my mouth. When I want to move but You are saying wait, steady my feet. Let my obedience become stronger than my impulses. Today I present myself to You as a living sacrifice. My plans belong to You. My desires belong to You. My relationships belong to You. My gifts,  opportunities, future, and dreams belong to You. If there is anything I am holding so tightly that I cannot surrender it when You ask, loosen my grip. Jesus, increase in me. Let selfishness decrease, let pride decrease, let stubbornness decrease, and let every desire that competes with Your will lose its authority over me. I do not want greater territory without greater surrender, greater anointing without greater discipline, or greater influence without greater humility. Holy Spirit, when my flesh says, “But I want this,” remind me to ask, “Father, what do You want?” When the answer is different from mine, give me enough love for You, enough trust in You, and enough faith in Your plan to choose Your way. I believe that what You have prepared for me does not require me to disobey You to receive it. I do not have to manipulate, force, compromise, or abandon Your Word to reach the future You have ordained for me. So today I choose to follow You. I choose surrender over control, obedience over impulse, discipline over temporary gratification, and Your will over my own. I am not denying my destiny. I am surrendering whatever cannot go with me into it. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nugget ~ Denying yourself is not denying your destiny. Sometimes the no you give your flesh today is protecting the yes God has prepared for your tomorrow. Choose His will over the moment, take up your cross, and keep following Him.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…

Romans 13:14 (NKJV) — “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

Romans 13:14 comes at the end of a powerful passage in which Paul calls believers to wake up spiritually and live with an awareness of who they have become in Christ. In Romans 13:11, he says, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.” Paul wanted believers to understand that following Christ required intentionality. They could not continue living carelessly while expecting their lives to reflect spiritual transformation.

Paul tells them to “cast off the works of darkness” and “put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12). Then he brings the instruction directly into everyday life: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.” The word provision is important because it carries the idea of making preparation for something beforehand. Paul is essentially saying, “Do not prepare a place for the flesh to be satisfied.”

This takes the lesson from Day One deeper. Yesterday, you were reminded that your flesh does not get the final say. Today, you must examine whether you are unintentionally giving your flesh the resources it needs to keep speaking so loudly. You cannot continually make provision for something while asking God to help you overcome it.

Paul does not only tell you what to remove; he tells you what to put on: the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian life is not simply about eliminating bad habits. It is about becoming increasingly clothed in the character, mind, ways, and nature of Christ. The more you yield yourself to Him, the less room you make for the flesh to control you.

Imagine having two plants sitting beside one another. Every morning you walk into the room and water one plant carefully. You make sure it receives sunlight, remove anything that might interfere with its growth, and regularly check the soil. The other plant receives very little attention. After several weeks, you notice that one plant is flourishing while the other is struggling. You would not be surprised. You already know why. The plant you consistently fed is the plant that grew.

Now imagine praying every morning, “Lord, please make this plant stop growing,” while continuing to water it every afternoon. At some point, you would have to recognize that your actions are working against your prayer.

Sometimes the same thing happens spiritually. You may be praying, “God, help me overcome this,” while continuing to water the thoughts, environments, conversations, habits, relationships, or appetites that keep it alive. God may answer your prayer by showing you the watering can in your own hand. The question for today is simple: What are you watering?

Yesterday you learned that your flesh does not get the final say. Today we have to go a little deeper because sometimes the problem is not simply that the flesh is speaking loudly. Sometimes we have been feeding it. That may be difficult to admit, but transformation requires honesty. Romans 13:14 says, “Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” In other words, stop preparing an environment where the very thing you are trying to surrender has everything it needs to survive.

Think about the plant in the story. Whatever you consistently feed has the opportunity to grow. Galatians 6:7–8 says, “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Paul continues by explaining that the person who sows to the flesh will reap from the flesh, while the person who sows to the Spirit will reap everlasting life from the Spirit. There is a spiritual principle here: your repeated choices are planting something.

You cannot continually feed anger and expect peace to become stronger. You cannot continually feed comparison and expect contentment to flourish. You cannot continually feed procrastination and expect discipline to develop. You cannot continually feed offense and expect forgiveness to become easier. You cannot continually feed distraction and wonder why prayer has become difficult. At some point, you have to examine what you have been watering.

Sometimes what you are feeding is obvious, but sometimes it is hidden in your everyday routine. It may be what you watch, what you listen to, who you continually talk to, what you scroll through, what you replay in your mind, or what you allow yourself to dwell on before going to sleep. It may even be a conversation that ended days ago but continues living rent-free in your thoughts because you keep replaying every word.

Philippians 4:8 gives you a filter for your thoughts: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report… meditate on these things.” God cares about what occupies your mind because what you repeatedly entertain can begin influencing how you feel, how you speak, and eventually how you behave.

This is why you must learn the difference between being tempted and making provision for temptation. Temptation may come without your invitation, but making provision means you knowingly continue creating access to something that repeatedly causes you to stumble. If you know something weakens your discipline, wisdom says you do not keep positioning yourself unnecessarily close to it.

First Corinthians 10:13 reminds you that temptation is common to humanity and that God is faithful to provide “the way of escape.” Sometimes you pray for God to remove temptation while ignoring the exit He already showed you. The way of escape may look like closing the app, ending the conversation, leaving the room, changing the routine, creating a boundary, deleting the number, putting the purchase back, turning off the television, going to bed, or simply saying, “No, I’m not going to do this;” the escape may not always feel spiritual, but obedience is spiritual.

Joseph gives us a powerful example in Genesis 39. When Potiphar’s wife repeatedly attempted to seduce him, Joseph did not stand around trying to prove how strong he was. When the situation intensified, Genesis 39:12 says that “he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.” Joseph ran. Sometimes spiritual maturity is knowing when you should pray, and sometimes spiritual maturity is knowing when you should run. You do not have to prove your strength by continually standing beside something God told you to leave. Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is create distance.

This applies to more than obvious temptation. Maybe your flesh is being fed by your need to be right. Every time someone disagrees with you, you feel compelled to prove your point. Maybe it is being fed by comparison, so you continually look at what everybody else has and measure your life against theirs. Maybe it is being fed by comfort, so every time discipline becomes inconvenient you change the plan. Maybe it is being fed by procrastination, and “I’ll do it tomorrow” has quietly become a lifestyle. Whatever your it is, ask yourself: What keeps feeding it?

James 1:14 says, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” Notice that James points inward. There are times when the issue is not simply what somebody else did, what the enemy placed before you, or what happened around you. Sometimes something outside of you connected with a desire already operating inside of you. Recognizing that does not condemn you; it gives you somewhere to begin surrendering.

This is why you need to pay attention to your triggers. What happens immediately before you fall back into the same pattern? Are you tired? Lonely? Angry? Frustrated? Bored? Overwhelmed? Disappointed? Do certain conversations leave you emotionally stirred up? Do certain environments weaken your boundaries? Does exhaustion make you more likely to respond from your flesh?

Knowing your patterns can help you establish wisdom before the moment of temptation arrives. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Guarding your heart does not mean becoming afraid of life; it means becoming intentional about what you allow continual access to you. Sometimes you need to stop calling something a struggle when you keep scheduling appointments with it.

You cannot continually return to the same environment, entertain the same thought, open the same door, ignore the same boundary, and then act surprised when the same fleshly response appears. Grace is not permission to keep creating provision for what God is calling you to crucify. Grace empowers you to make a different choice. This is where the title of today’s devotional becomes personal: Stop feeding what you’re trying to crucify.

Galatians 5:24 says, “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Crucifying the flesh requires more than saying, “God, take this away.” Sometimes it requires you to stop giving it what keeps it alive.

If gossip is the issue, stop sitting in conversations where gossip is continually being served. If comparison is the issue, reduce your exposure to what constantly makes you question your worth or assignment. If overspending is the issue, stop putting yourself in situations where impulsive spending is easy. If anger is the issue, learn to pause before responding. If procrastination is the issue, stop waiting to feel motivated before doing what requires discipline. You may not be able to control every temptation, but you can become more intentional about your provision.

Psalm 101:3 says, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” David understood that what he continually placed before himself mattered. What enters through your eyes and ears can eventually find residence in your thoughts. That does not mean you live fearfully, but it does mean you live discerningly.

This is especially important because of where you said you want to go. If you want your next three years to be greater than your last three months, you cannot keep feeding habits that belong to the season you are asking God to move you beyond.

You cannot pray for a disciplined future while feeding undisciplined habits. You cannot pray for peace while continually feeding chaos. You cannot pray for spiritual sensitivity while constantly filling every quiet space with noise. You cannot ask God for greater stewardship while refusing to discipline your appetites; something has got to change, and sometimes that change is not dramatic. Sometimes it begins with one small decision repeated consistently.

Maybe you get up thirty minutes earlier to pray. Maybe you stop reaching for your phone the moment your eyes open. Maybe you stop participating in a conversation that continually pulls you into negativity. Maybe you prepare before you are tempted rather than trying to become disciplined in the middle of temptation. Maybe you place a boundary around something you know has too much influence over you.

Zechariah 4:10 warns against despising “the day of small things.” Do not underestimate small acts of obedience. One boundary may seem small, but boundaries repeated become discipline. One surrendered thought may seem small, but surrendered thoughts repeated begin renewing your mind. One “no” may seem insignificant, but repeated no’s to the flesh can create room for a stronger yes to God.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 26:41: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Notice that Jesus said watch and pray. Prayer matters, but so does paying attention. You can be sincere about wanting change and still need to become more observant about the patterns that keep pulling you backward. Watch what weakens you. Watch what triggers you. Watch what consumes your attention. Watch where you repeatedly compromise. Watch what you excuse. Then pray about what you see.

There is another side to this lesson, because simply starving the flesh is not enough. You must also feed the Spirit. Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Fill the space with God’s Word. Fill it with prayer. Fill it with worship. Fill it with healthy relationships, godly counsel, wise boundaries, and things that strengthen your desire for God. If you remove something but never replace it with something spiritually healthy, you may eventually return to what was familiar simply because the space remained empty. Jesus teaches this principle in Matthew 12:43–45 when He describes an unclean spirit leaving a person and later returning to find the house empty. The point reminds you that spiritual transformation is not merely about an empty house. God wants a filled life.

Fill your mind with His Word. Fill your mouth with praise instead of constant complaining. Fill your schedule with things that support your assignment. Fill your environment with reminders of who God is calling you to become. Fill your heart with truth until truth becomes louder than the desire you are trying to surrender. Day One asked you to recognize that your flesh does not get the final say. Day Two asks you to look at what you are doing between the moments of decision. What are you feeding when nobody is watching? What are you making provision for? What are you repeatedly watering? Do not ask God only to change the fruit while refusing to examine the root.

Your next three years are being influenced by decisions you are making today. The future you are praying for will require you to stop feeding some things and intentionally begin feeding others.

So today, do not just say, “I’m going to stop.” Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what needs to replace it. If you stop feeding anger, feed forgiveness. If you stop feeding comparison, feed gratitude. If you stop feeding distraction, feed focus. If you stop feeding procrastination, feed discipline. If you stop feeding fear, feed your faith with the Word of God. You do not overcome darkness by becoming obsessed with darkness. You turn on the light. Take another look at the plant in the story. The one you water is the one that grows and you need to be intentional about what receives your water.

Let’s Pray:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for another day and another opportunity to grow. Thank You for loving me enough not only to show me where I need to change, but also to give me Your Holy Spirit, Your Word, Your grace, and Your wisdom to help me change. Father, search my heart today and show me anything I have been feeding that You are asking me to crucify. Reveal the habits, thoughts, conversations, environments, relationships, routines, and appetites that continually strengthen something You are calling me to surrender. Help me see clearly where my actions may be working against my prayers. Your Word tells me to make no provision for the flesh. Give me wisdom to understand what provision looks like in my own life. Show me the doors I need to close, the boundaries I need to establish, the conversations I need to leave, the routines I need to change, and the places where I need greater discipline. Father, help me recognize my triggers without becoming controlled by them. When I am tired, frustrated, lonely, angry, disappointed, overwhelmed, or tempted, remind me that I still have a choice. Teach me to pause long enough to hear Your Spirit before my flesh responds. When You provide a way of escape, give me courage to take it. Do not allow pride to make me remain in places I should leave. Give me Joseph’s wisdom to run when running is necessary. Help me understand that creating distance from temptation is not weakness; sometimes it is wisdom. Father, forgive me for the times I have repeatedly watered something and then asked You why it kept growing. Forgive me for excusing patterns You have been confronting, ignoring boundaries You have been showing me, or continually returning to something You have been helping me leave behind. Thank You that Your conviction is not condemnation. You reveal things because You desire to transform me. Teach me not only to starve the flesh but to feed my spirit. Give me a greater hunger for Your Word. Deepen my prayer life. Strengthen my worship. Surround me with people and environments that encourage spiritual growth. Let the Word of Christ dwell richly within me so that when temptation speaks, truth is already living inside of me. Father, where I have fed anger, teach me to feed forgiveness and peace. Where I have fed comparison, teach me gratitude. Where I have fed fear, strengthen my faith. Where I have fed procrastination, develop discipline. Where I have fed distraction, restore my focus. Where I have fed pride, grow humility within me. Where I have fed my need for control, teach me to trust You.  God,  I want my next three years to be greater than my last three months, but I understand that greater will require different choices. Help me stop feeding habits that cannot sustain the future I am praying for. Prepare me for what You are preparing for me. Holy Spirit, help me watch and pray. Make me aware of what I allow into my eyes, ears, mind, heart, and environment. Give me wisdom concerning what deserves access to me. Help me stop treating boundaries as punishment and begin seeing them as protection for the person You are helping me become. Father, I surrender my watering can to You. Show me what deserves my time, attention, energy, and nourishment. I do not want to continually water something You are telling me to uproot. Today I choose to feed my faith, my prayer life, my discipline, my obedience, my peace, my purpose, and my relationship with You. I choose to make room for Your Spirit instead of making provision for my flesh. Continue transforming me from the inside out. Make my private choices agree with my public prayers. Let my habits begin agreeing with the future I say I desire. And when my flesh asks me to feed what You told me to crucify, give me strength to say no and wisdom to feed what You want to grow instead. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen.

Nugget ~ You cannot keep watering what you are praying will stop growing. Stop feeding what God is asking you to crucify, and start feeding what the Holy Spirit is trying to grow in you.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…

Galatians 5:16–17, 24–25 (NKJV) ~ “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Sometimes there are conversations that are hard to have, but just because a conversation is hard does not mean it should not be had. As a matter of fact, some of the conversations that make us the most uncomfortable are the very ones that cause us to look inward, grow, and become more like Christ. This week is going to be one of those conversations, so let me go ahead and get it started.

There are some things you know you should not do, and there are other things you do without even thinking about them. Some reactions have become automatic. Some attitudes have become familiar. Some habits have been with you so long that you no longer recognize them as something that needs to change. And then there are those things you simply want. You know what God is saying, but your flesh has an opinion too.

Let’s acknowledge something from the beginning; denying your flesh is not always easy. Sometimes you want to say it. Sometimes you want to do it. Sometimes you want to go. Sometimes you want to respond immediately. Sometimes you want what you want, when you want it, and the struggle between what your flesh desires and what the Spirit is saying is very real.

Paul does not pretend that struggle does not exist. Galatians 5:17 tells you plainly that “the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” There is opposition happening within you. Your flesh can desire one thing while the Holy Spirit is leading you toward something completely different. But here is what you must understand: the presence of a struggle does not mean you have to surrender to the flesh. You have a choice.

Galatians 5:16 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Paul does not simply tell you what to stop doing; he tells you how to live differently. The answer is not merely trying harder to control yourself. The answer is learning to walk in the Spirit.

This connects beautifully with where you have just been. You walked out of bondage into liberty. You crossed over. You learned that you have not been this way before. You learned to give God room to lead, stay in His Word, guard your focus, pay attention, and refuse to go anywhere without His Presence. Now there is another truth you must face: you cannot ask the Holy Spirit to lead while continually allowing your flesh to make the decisions. There comes a point when you have to decide which one gets to lead.

Galatians 5:24 uses strong language: “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Crucifixion is not comfortable language because crucifying the flesh is not about making your flesh more comfortable. It is about refusing to allow your appetites, impulses, emotions, desires, pride, reactions, and old patterns to have authority over your obedience to God.

Sometimes crucifying your flesh means remaining silent when everything in you wants the last word. Sometimes it means walking away from something you still desire because God told you it is not good for you. Sometimes it means praying when you would rather sleep, forgiving when you would rather remain angry, waiting when you want to move, saying no when your flesh wants yes, or obeying God when obedience is inconvenient.

And sometimes it is much more subtle. Your flesh does not always announce itself. Sometimes it sounds like, “I deserve this.” Sometimes it says, “That’s just how I am.” Sometimes it says, “I’m going to say what I need to say.” Sometimes it says, “I’ll pray about it later.” Sometimes it says, “God understands.” And yes, God understands but His understanding of your weakness was never intended to become permission for you to remain controlled by it. His grace gives you power to become what He is calling you to become.

Here is the challenge that birthed this series; if you want your next three years to be greater than your last three months, something has to change. You cannot continually pray for a different future while feeding the same flesh that helped create some of the cycles of your past. You cannot ask God for greater territory while refusing greater discipline. You cannot continually ask for greater anointing without accepting greater surrender. You cannot ask God to change everything around you while refusing to allow the Holy Spirit to change something within you.

Romans 8:5 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Notice where this battle reaches, your mind. What you repeatedly think about, entertain, feed, watch, listen to, rehearse, and excuse can strengthen one side of this struggle.

So this week is not simply about behavior modification. It is about spiritual surrender. The question is not only, “What am I doing?” You must also ask, “What am I feeding?” “What am I excusing?” “What keeps triggering me?” “What desire has become too important?” “What reaction keeps winning?” “What has God repeatedly asked me to surrender?” And perhaps the hardest question: “What have I been calling ‘just me’ that God is actually trying to crucify?”

You said, “I’m more anointed today than I was yesterday.” Then allow the anointing to reach your private decisions as much as your public calling. Anointing is not permission to ignore discipline. If anything, what God entrusts to you makes surrender even more important.

Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Notice the word daily. Yesterday’s surrender does not automatically make today’s decision. There are things you may have to place before God again today. Your flesh may show up tomorrow with the same argument it gave you yesterday. But every day you are given another opportunity to say, “Not my will, Lord. Yours.”

This is not about condemning yourself every time you struggle. This is about recognizing that you no longer have to let the struggle determine the outcome. The Holy Spirit lives within you, and as you learn to yield to Him, your response can change. The goal of these five days is not simply for you to say, “I need to stop doing that.” The goal is for you to recognize what has been feeding your flesh, understand what it means to deny yourself, develop spiritual discipline, and intentionally choose the Spirit when your flesh wants something else. Because where God is taking you will require a version of you that knows how to say no to yourself so you can keep saying yes to Him.

Let’s Begin! Good Morning Sunshine! Your Flesh Doesn’t Get The Final Say!

Galatians 5:16–17 (NKJV) — “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

Paul wrote Galatians to believers who had received freedom through faith in Jesus Christ but were learning how that freedom should be lived. In Galatians 5, Paul makes it clear that Christian liberty is not permission to live according to every desire of the flesh. Galatians 5:13 says, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh.” They had been set free, but they still had to decide how they would walk in that freedom.

Paul describes a conflict every believer will recognize. The flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh. The flesh here is more than the physical body; it includes the desires, attitudes, impulses, reactions, and old patterns that resist God’s leadership. Becoming a Christian does not mean you will never experience a desire that conflicts with God’s will. You can love God and still have to tell yourself no. You can be anointed and still become angry. You can know Scripture and still be tempted to respond emotionally. You can genuinely desire God’s will while another part of you is saying, “But this is what I want.”

Paul does not tell believers to pretend this conflict does not exist. Instead, he gives them the answer; “Walk in the Spirit.” Victory over the flesh is not achieved merely by concentrating on everything you cannot do. It comes as you become increasingly yielded to the Holy Spirit, allowing His voice, His Word, His direction, and His fruit to influence the way you live. The flesh may speak, but it does not get the final say.

I need you to begin this series by acknowledging something that sometimes we do not want to admit, denying your flesh can be hard. There are moments when you know exactly what God would have you to do, but what you want to do feels completely different. Then there are other times when you do not even stop to think about it. You respond automatically because a reaction, attitude, habit, or pattern has become so familiar that it feels natural.

Sometimes you want to say exactly what is on your mind and have the last word. Sometimes you want to spend what you should save, stay in bed when you know you need to get up, hold onto an offense because forgiveness feels unfair, move ahead because waiting has become uncomfortable, or simply do what feels good in the moment. Your flesh can be very persuasive when it wants what it wants. But here is something you need to remember: wanting something does not mean you have to choose it. Every desire does not deserve a decision, every feeling does not require an action, every thought does not deserve agreement, and every impulse does not require obedience.

Proverbs 25:28 says, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” In biblical times, walls provided protection. A city without walls was vulnerable. In the same way, when you live without spiritual discipline, emotions, appetites, offenses, desires, and impulses can begin determining your behavior. This is why Paul tells you to walk in the Spirit.

Notice that Paul uses the word walk. Walking suggests movement, consistency, and daily choices. You do not take one step and call it a journey; you keep walking. Walking in the Spirit is the same way. It is not one dramatic moment when you surrender everything and never struggle again. It is a daily life of repeated choices to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you.

Romans 8:5 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” There is a connection between what you continually set your mind upon and what becomes stronger in your life. Pay attention to what you repeatedly feed with your attention, what you rehearse in your thoughts, the conversations you continually replay, and the desires you keep entertaining. Sometimes you can ask God to help you overcome something while continually feeding the very thing you are asking Him to help you crucify.

Today, however, the first step is simply recognizing the conflict because you cannot surrender what you refuse to identify. Sometimes the flesh is obvious, but sometimes it hides behind language that sounds reasonable. It may say, “I’m just being honest,” when you really want permission to say something hurtful. It may say, “That’s just who I am,” when God is trying to change a behavior you have carried for years. It may say, “I deserve this,” when the Holy Spirit is calling you to restraint, or “I’ll do it tomorrow,” when God has already told you to move today.

This is where spiritual maturity requires you to slow down long enough to ask yourself, “What is leading me right now?” Is this the Holy Spirit or my emotions? Is this conviction or my preference? Is this God’s timing or my impatience? Am I responding from wisdom or reacting because my feelings were hurt? Am I doing this because God said yes, or because I desperately want the answer to be yes?

James 1:19–20 tells you to “be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Sometimes crucifying your flesh happens in the few seconds between what happened to you and how you choose to respond. That pause can become sacred space. Instead of immediately responding, you pray. Instead of immediately sending the text, you wait. Instead of immediately defending yourself, you ask God whether a defense is necessary. Instead of saying yes simply because you want something, you ask whether God wants it for you. You are teaching your flesh that it does not get to make every decision simply because it speaks first or speaks loudly.

Jesus gives us the ultimate picture of surrender in Luke 22:42 when He prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Jesus did not pretend what was before Him was easy, yet His surrender demonstrates something that must become central to your life: God’s will must become greater than what you want in the moment.

“Not my will, but Yours” is not always an easy prayer. Sometimes God’s will requires waiting when you want movement, silence when you have plenty to say, forgiveness when your emotions want to hold onto the offense, or discipline when comfort would feel much better. Sometimes it requires walking away from something you still want. But denying yourself is not God trying to take your life away from you. Sometimes God’s no is protecting the yes He has prepared for your future.

This is why the thought behind this series is so important, if you want your next three years to be greater than your last three months, something in you must change. What if what God wants to do next does not require another opportunity first, but another level of discipline? What if the next door is not the first thing that needs to change? Maybe your response, habits, thinking, prayer life, or the way you handle frustration needs to change. Perhaps God is preparing the next three years by dealing with something in you right now.

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Transformation is not merely God changing your surroundings; it includes God changing the person who will live in those surroundings. You may be asking God for greater territory, influence, opportunity, anointing, and impact, but greater requires something from you too. Luke 12:48 reminds you, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required.” If God is preparing to place more into your hands, He may first be teaching you how to govern what is happening within your heart.

Your gift cannot be the only thing growing. Your discipline, character, prayer life, ability to wait, ability to say no, and willingness to obey when obedience is uncomfortable must grow too. Greater anointing should lead to greater surrender, and greater opportunity should be accompanied by greater spiritual maturity.

This connects with what you learned in the previous series; you have not been this way before and you have to learn to give God room to lead, stay in His Word, guard your focus, and remain close to His Presence. Now God is taking that lesson deeper. If you truly want Him to lead you, you have to recognize when your flesh is trying to take the wheel.

Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Walking in the Spirit means the Holy Spirit becomes more than Someone you experience during worship or prayer. His leadership reaches your conversations, decisions, reactions, relationships, schedule, appetites, boundaries, and private choices. He cares about what you say when you are angry, how you respond when you do not get your way, what you entertain in your thoughts, and what you choose when nobody else is watching.

Galatians 5:22–23 includes self-control among the fruit of the Spirit. Self-control is not simply gritting your teeth and trying harder. It is evidence that the Holy Spirit is developing something within you that enables you to respond differently. Sometimes one of the most powerful spiritual words you can say is no. No, I am not going to respond that way. No, I am not returning to that pattern. No, I do not have to satisfy every appetite, win every argument, prove myself, accept every invitation, or follow every feeling. My flesh does not get the final say.

First Corinthians 6:12 says, “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” So consider this today: What has been exercising too much power over you? What makes you feel as though you have to respond? What do you believe you cannot say no to? What repeatedly interrupts your discipline or receives more of your obedience than God does? Do not answer those questions with condemnation; answer them with honesty.

Romans 8:1 reminds you, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” This series is not an invitation to spend five days beating yourself up. It is an invitation to become more aware of what needs to be surrendered so you can become increasingly responsive to the Holy Spirit. Conviction does not say you are hopeless; conviction reveals an area where God wants to transform you.

There is a future you are praying for, assignments you have not yet touched, doors you have not yet walked through, and greater responsibility ahead. If you want your next three years to be greater than your last three months, do not only ask God to prepare it for you, but ask God to prepare you for it. Your preparation begins today by pausing before you respond, praying before you decide, listening before you move, and questioning a desire before you satisfy it.

When your flesh says, “But I want…”, give the Holy Spirit enough room to answer. Your flesh can have an opinion, your emotions can have a voice, and your desires can make their request, but they do not get the final say. God does.

Let’s Pray:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for another day and for the gift of Your Holy Spirit. Thank You that You have not called me to overcome the flesh through my own strength. You have given me Your Spirit to lead me, teach me, convict me, strengthen me, and produce Your fruit within my life. Father, show me the areas where I have allowed my flesh to have too much influence over my decisions, reactions, habits, words, thoughts, and desires. Show me the things I do automatically without stopping to ask whether they honor You. Give me courage to be honest about what You reveal without falling into condemnation. When my flesh wants one thing and Your Spirit is leading me toward another, give me discernment to recognize Your voice and strength to choose Your way. Teach me to pause when I am angry, pray when I am uncertain, wait when I am impatient, and seek You before saying yes simply because something appeals to me. When I want to defend myself, help me discern whether You are telling me to speak or remain silent. Father, teach me to sincerely pray, “Not my will, but Yours, be done.” There are things I want, outcomes I prefer, and answers I would choose if everything were left to me, but I want Your will more than temporary satisfaction. If there is something I am asking You to bless that You are asking me to release, give me courage to let it go. If I have been saying, “That’s just how I am,” about something Your Spirit is trying to transform, renew my mind and change me. Prepare me for what I have been praying for. If I want my next three years to be greater than my last three months, help me accept the discipline required today. Do not only prepare doors, opportunities, assignments, and territory for me; prepare me for them. Grow my character with my gifting, my discipline with my opportunity, my prayer life with my territory, and my humility with my influence. As You increase the anointing upon my life, increase my surrender. Holy Spirit, lead my everyday life. Lead my conversations, reactions, thoughts, decisions, relationships, schedule, appetites, boundaries, and private choices. Produce Your fruit in me, especially self-control in the places where I have struggled to say no. I refuse condemnation, but I welcome Your conviction. When You show me something that needs to change, help me not hide it, defend it, excuse it, or blame someone else. Give me grace to simply say, “Lord, change this in me.” Help me remember that every desire does not deserve a decision, every feeling does not require an action, every thought does not deserve agreement, and every impulse does not require obedience. When my flesh speaks loudly, help me listen more closely to Your Spirit. When my flesh says now and You say wait, help me wait. When my flesh tells me to speak and You say be silent, help me be quiet. When my flesh tells me to hold on and You say release it, help me let go. When my flesh says, “This is what I want,” teach my heart to ask, “But Father, what do You want?” My flesh does not get the final say over my future. My emotions, appetites, old patterns, and past do not get the final say. You do. Teach me to walk in the Spirit one decision, one conversation, one reaction, one temptation, and one act of obedience at a time. Crucify in me whatever continually competes with Your will, and make me more sensitive to Your Spirit, obedient to Your Word, disciplined in my choices, and surrendered to Your purpose. Father, I want where You are taking me, but more importantly, I want to become who You need me to be when I get there. In Jesus Christ Mighty and Matchless Name, Amen.

Nugget ~ Every desire does not deserve a decision. Your flesh may speak loudly, but it does not get the final say. Pause, pray, listen to the Holy Spirit, and choose what moves you toward the future God is preparing you for.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean

Exodus 33:14–15 (NKJV) — “And He said, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then he said to Him, ‘If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.’”

Exodus 33 takes place during a critical moment in Israel’s journey. God had already delivered His people from Egypt, brought them through the Red Sea, provided for them in the wilderness, and promised to bring them into the land He had prepared for them. Yet while Moses was on Mount Sinai, the people turned away from God and worshiped the golden calf. They had physically left Egypt, but some of Egypt was still being removed from their hearts.

In the aftermath of their disobedience, God told Moses that the people could continue toward the Promised Land and that He would send an angel before them. The destination was still available. The promise had not disappeared. But Moses understood something that Israel desperately needed to learn: the Promised Land without the Presence of God was not enough.

Moses responded, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” In other words, “God, I want what You promised, but I do not want the promise without You. I want the land, but I want Your Presence more. I want where You are sending us, but I do not want to arrive there without You.” And that is when you know that you are becoming spiritually mature.

Moses had seen miracles. He had watched the Red Sea open. He had seen God provide manna and water. He had experienced God’s power in extraordinary ways, yet those experiences did not cause him to believe he could now navigate the journey without God. The more Moses experienced God, the more he understood how much he needed Him.

That truth brings this week’s journey together. You have been reminded that you have not been this way before. You have learned to give God room to lead, to approach His Word with fresh expectation, and to guard your focus so distractions do not change your direction. Now Day Five brings you to the heart of it all: wherever God takes you next, stay close to His Presence. The goal was never merely to cross over. The goal is to cross over with God.

Sunshine! You made it to Day Five, and there is one truth I want you to carry from this entire week: You have not been this way before, so you need God here. Sometimes you can mistakenly believe you only need God desperately during difficult seasons. When you are in Egypt, you cry out for deliverance. When you are in the wilderness, you pray for provision. When you stand at the Jordan, you ask for courage to cross. When you encounter Jericho, you seek God for strategy. But what happens when you finally begin living in some of the things you prayed for? You still need Him.

In fact, you may need to become even more intentional about seeking Him because sometimes desperation makes dependence easy. When you do not know what to do, you pray. When you cannot see the way, you seek God. When nothing seems to be working, you ask Him for direction. But maturity is continuing to seek God when you have gained enough experience to think you can handle things yourself.

Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Notice that it does not say acknowledge God only when you are confused. It says “in all your ways.”

A new season does not eliminate your need for God. An open door does not eliminate your need for God. Experience does not eliminate your need for God. Greater knowledge does not eliminate your need for God. Greater anointing does not eliminate your need for God. You said, “I’m more anointed today than I was yesterday.” Then let greater anointing produce greater dependence. Let greater revelation produce greater humility. Let greater territory produce greater prayer. Let greater opportunity produce greater obedience. If God enlarges your territory, enlarge your prayer life.

You have never carried this exact combination of responsibility, opportunity, influence, experience, wisdom, and anointing before. Even if parts of this season look familiar, you have never lived this exact season before. That means yesterday’s experience cannot become a substitute for today’s dependence upon God. This brings us back to Day One: You have not been this way before.

Joshua 3:4 became the phrase that opened this journey. Israel was preparing to cross into unfamiliar territory, and God instructed them to watch carefully because they needed to know which way to go. The same is true for you. You have seen many days before, but you have never lived this one. You have experienced many Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, but no two were exactly alike. Every day carries its own decisions, opportunities, challenges, grace, and assignments. You do not get to live yesterday again, and you cannot live tomorrow early. You have to follow God today.

Day Two taught you the importance of giving God room to lead. Israel had to maintain enough distance between themselves and the ark to see which way God was leading. Spiritually, that reminded you not to crowd God’s direction with your own assumptions. Sometimes you already have an idea of how God should answer, which door He should open, which person He should use, and how quickly everything should happen. But you have not been this way before.

Isaiah 55:8–9 reminds you that God’s thoughts are not your thoughts and His ways are higher than your ways. Give Him room to surprise you. Give Him room to redirect you. Give Him room to say no when you expected yes and wait when you expected now. Give Him room to take you by a road you did not know existed. You do not need to know everything God knows in order to follow where He leads.

Day Three reminded you: Same Word, Different You. Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word of God is “living and powerful.” You can read a Scripture you have read dozens of times and suddenly see something you never noticed before. The Word did not change; you did.

You lived some more. You prayed some more. You survived some things. You healed in some places. You learned lessons you did not know before. You crossed some things that once intimidated you. Now you are reading the same Bible from a different place in your journey. Never become so familiar with God’s Word that you stop expecting Him to speak through it.

The Scripture you needed to survive Egypt may reveal something different when you read it from the Promised Land. The Word that taught you about deliverance may now teach you discipline. The Scripture that helped you wait may now teach you how to steward what you received.

Psalm 119:18 says, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” Keep praying that prayer. “God, show me what I couldn’t see before. Show me what this Word means from where I am standing now.” You can return to a Scripture without returning to an old season. You can revisit a lesson without rebuilding Egypt. Carry the wisdom forward.

Then Day Four told you: Stay focused and pay attention. Proverbs 4:25–27 instructed you to look straight ahead, fix your gaze, carefully consider the path of your feet, and refuse to turn to the right or the left. You learned that what holds your attention can influence your direction. That matters because new territory will bring new distractions. Some distractions will look like problems, but others will look like opportunities. Some will come through people. Some will come through comparison. Some will come from looking backward. Some may even come from something good that simply is not your assignment.

You cannot allow everything that gets your attention to determine your direction. Hebrews 12:2 tells you to keep “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” Keep your eyes on Him. Someone else’s pace is not necessarily your pace. Someone else’s opportunity is not necessarily your assignment. Every open door is not necessarily your door.

Give careful thought to the path of your feet. And now Day Five brings all of those lessons to one place: His Presence. You have not been this way before, so stay close to His Presence. Give God room to lead, but stay close enough to follow. Keep reading His Word because you are still growing. Guard your focus because distractions can change your direction. And wherever God takes you, never want what He gives you more than you want Him. Moses’ prayer should become your prayer: “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.”

That is a powerful prayer because sometimes you can become so excited about where you believe God is taking you that you stop asking whether He is leading you there. You want the door because it is open. You want the opportunity because it looks good. You want the platform because it is larger. You want the connection because it seems beneficial. But what if God’s Presence is not leading you there?

Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD.” Your prayer should not simply be, “God, bless wherever I decide to go.” Your prayer should be, “God, order my steps so I go where You have already determined I should be.” That is where your prayer, “God, help me walk the fine line as I pursue the narrow path,” becomes even more important.  You need discernment to know the difference between a good idea and a God assignment. You need discernment to know when to move and when to wait, when to speak and when to remain silent, when to say yes and when to say no, when to hold on and when to release.

Isaiah 30:21 says, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” That is the kind of sensitivity you want in this next place. You want to be so aware of God’s Presence that when He redirects you, you recognize His voice and you that you do not allow familiarity with the new place to make you less dependent upon God.

At first, everything may feel new, so you pray about everything. You ask God about every decision. You carefully listen for His direction. But after a while, you learn the territory. You become more comfortable. You develop routines. You gain experience. Be careful that confidence does not quietly become independence. John 15:5 records Jesus saying, “without Me you can do nothing.” You may become better at what God called you to do, but you never graduate from dependence upon the One who called you. If you become more gifted, stay yielded. If you become more knowledgeable, stay teachable. If you become more influential, stay humble. If you become more successful, stay prayerful. If you become more anointed, stay surrendered. If God enlarges your territory, enlarge your prayer life.

First Chronicles 4:10 records Jabez praying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me.” Notice that he did not ask only for enlarged territory. He also desired God’s hand to remain with him, let that be your desire. “God, if You enlarge me, keep Your hand on me. If You increase me, keep my heart near You. If You elevate me, keep me humble. If You open doors, keep me discerning. If You give me more to carry, give me greater capacity to pray.” You are not crossing over to prove something to people. You are not pursuing the promise so you can say, “Look at what I accomplished.” You are moving because God is leading, and every place He leads should reveal more of Him to you. Remember what the journey has taught you. Egypt taught you about deliverance. The wilderness taught you dependence. The Jordan taught you faith. Jericho taught you obedience, discipline, and strategy. God did not bring you through those places so you could continue living there. He brought you through so you could carry the wisdom forward.

You can remember Egypt without rebuilding it. You can remember the wilderness without camping there again. You can remember the Jordan without spending the rest of your life standing at the riverbank talking about how you crossed. You crossed over and now live on this side. Carry the Word that taught you to walk in liberty. Carry the testimony that reminds you of God’s faithfulness. Carry the discipline that helps you steward what He places in your hands. Carry the humility that reminds you that you did not arrive by yourself. And most importantly, carry an awareness of His Presence and remember everyday that there is something new to embrace, as you have not been this way before, but God has.

He already knows what is around the corner. He knows the doors that will open, the doors that need to remain closed, the people you will meet, the decisions you will face, the opportunities that will come, and the distractions that will attempt to pull you away. You do not need a complete map when you are walking with the One who already knows the way. So, embrace what God has prepared for you. Walk confidently into the new territory but walk humbly. Celebrate the promise but worship the Promise-Giver. Receive the increase but increase your prayer life. Use the gifts but remain yielded. Walk in the anointing but remain dependent. Keep your eyes on God. Give Him room to lead. Stay in His Word. Guard your focus. Pay attention. Follow His direction. And above everything else, stay close to His Presence.

Let’s Pray:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for bringing me through this week and reminding me that although I have not been this way before, I have never taken one step outside of Your sight. Thank You for every place You brought me out of, every wilderness You sustained me through, every Jordan You helped me cross, and every wall You gave me strength and strategy to face. Thank You for reminding me that I do not have to know everything about where I am going because I know the One who is leading me. You already know the way. Father, let the prayer of Moses become the posture of my heart: if Your Presence does not go with me, I do not want to go. I do not want a promise without Your Presence. I do not want an opportunity without Your approval. I do not want a platform without Your purpose. I do not want increase that decreases my dependence upon You. Thank You for teaching me this week that I have not been this way before. Help me approach each new day with humility instead of assumption. Remind me that even when something looks familiar, I still need today’s wisdom, today’s grace, today’s discernment, and today’s direction. Father, give me room to see You clearly and a heart willing to follow wherever You lead. Remove my preconceived notions about how You must answer me. When Your direction looks different from what I expected, give me enough faith to trust Your wisdom over my understanding. Keep Your Word alive in my heart. When I read a familiar Scripture, open my eyes again. Do not allow me to become so familiar with Your Word that I stop expecting You to speak. Thank You that the Word may be the same while You continue transforming me through it. Father, guard my focus. Help me fix my eyes on Jesus and give careful thought to the path of my feet. Do not allow distractions to determine my direction. Give me discernment concerning people, opportunities, responsibilities, and open doors. Everything that looks good is not necessarily Your assignment for me. Help me walk the fine line as I pursue the narrow path. Teach me when to move and when to wait, when to speak and when to remain silent, when to accept and when to decline, when to hold on and when to release. Father, if You enlarge my territory, enlarge my prayer life. If You increase my influence, increase my humility. If You increase my knowledge, keep me teachable. If You increase my anointing, increase my surrender. If You place more into my hands, give me wisdom and discipline to steward it well. I declare that I am more anointed today than I was yesterday, but Father, I do not want greater anointing without greater intimacy. I do not want greater territory without greater dependence. I do not want greater visibility without greater character. Keep working in me while You work through me. Thank You for what Egypt taught me about deliverance. Thank You for what the wilderness taught me about dependence. Thank You for what the Jordan taught me about faith. Thank You for what Jericho taught me about obedience and strategy. I will carry the lessons, but I will not rebuild the places You brought me out of. I will remember without returning, I will learn without lingering, I will carry the wisdom forward. Father, I have crossed over. Help my thinking, praying, speaking, decisions, discipline, and expectations begin reflecting where You have brought me. I will not keep standing at the edge talking about crossing when You have already brought me across. Father, order my steps and when I begin drifting to the right or left, let me hear Your voice saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” Keep me sensitive enough to hear You, humble enough to receive correction, disciplined enough to obey, and courageous enough to move. Most of all, Father, keep me close. When the promise comes, keep me close. When the territory enlarges, keep me close. When the doors open, keep me close. When prayers are answered, keep me close. When opportunities increase, keep me close. When people begin recognizing what You placed in me, keep me close. May nothing You place in my hands ever become greater in my heart than the One who placed it there. I have not been this way before, but I trust You. I do not need to see the entire road. I simply need enough light for the next step and enough faith to take it. Your Presence will go with me. Your Word will guide me. Your Spirit will lead me. And wherever You lead, I will follow. In Jesus Christ Mighty Name, Amen.

Nugget ~ You have not been this way before, but God already knows the way. Keep your eyes on Him, stay in His Word, guard your focus, enlarge your prayer life, and never desire the promise more than His Presence.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…

Have A Blessed Weekend…

Proverbs 4:25–27 (NIV) — “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

Proverbs 4 is a father’s instruction to his son about the importance of pursuing wisdom and guarding the direction of his life. Throughout the chapter, wisdom is presented as more than something you simply know; it is something that should influence how you think, speak, look, choose, and walk. By the time we reach verses 25–27, the instruction becomes very practical: look straight ahead, fix your gaze, carefully consider where your feet are going, remain steadfast, and refuse to turn aside.

There is something significant about the connection between your eyes and your feet in this passage. What continually captures your attention can eventually influence your direction. If your eyes are constantly looking backward, your feet may struggle to move forward. If your eyes are continually watching what everyone else is doing, you may begin walking toward something God never assigned to you. This is why the instruction is not simply to walk forward, but to look forward, consider your path, and remain steadfast. Focus and direction work together.

The surrounding verses make this even stronger. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Then verse 26 tells you to “give careful thought to the paths for your feet.” Your heart, your eyes, and your feet are connected. What you allow into your heart can affect what captures your attention, and what captures your attention can eventually influence where your feet take you.

This wisdom becomes especially important when you are walking through new territory. You have already been reminded this week, “You have not been this way before.” When you have not traveled a particular road before, you cannot afford to walk carelessly or become distracted by everything happening around you. Joshua 3 gives us a similar picture. Israel was instructed to keep the ark of the covenant in view because they needed to know which way to go. Proverbs tells you to fix your gaze ahead and carefully consider the path of your feet. The circumstances are different, but the spiritual principle is similar: direction requires attention.

This is where Day Four meets you and where you are reminded of day one that you that you have not been this way before. Day Two taught you to give God room to lead. Day Three reminded you that the Word may be familiar, but you are not the same person receiving it. Now Day Four tells you to guard your focus. Do not allow distractions, comparisons, old patterns, unnecessary opportunities, or other people’s paths to turn you to the right or the left. God is leading you forward, but you must pay attention to where you are looking because what holds your focus can eventually influence your footsteps.

Imagine driving somewhere you have never been before. You put the address into your GPS and begin following the directions. Everything is going well until your phone rings. You answer it, become involved in the conversation, and continue driving. A few minutes later, you glance at the GPS and realize you missed your turn.

The GPS had not stopped working. The directions had not disappeared, and the destination had not changed. You simply became distracted. Now the GPS has to reroute you. You can still reach your destination, but the journey may take longer because your attention moved away from the directions that were already being given.

Sometimes this happens spiritually. God has not stopped leading. He has not forgotten His promise, nor has He changed His purpose for your life. But somewhere along the journey, your attention can become consumed by people, problems, emotions, disappointments, responsibilities, opportunities, or even your own thoughts. Then you look up and wonder, “God, where are You?” Sometimes the issue is not that God stopped leading; you simply need to refocus and pay attention to His direction again.

I have a question for you today, what has your attention? Sunshine! Today I want you to think about the words of this question clearly and stay focused and pay attention. You have not been this way before, and unfamiliar territory requires intentional focus. Proverbs tells you, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.” This is not the season to move through life on autopilot, assuming that because something looks familiar, you already know where it is going.

There is a difference between something getting your attention and something deserving your focus. Many things will get your attention throughout the day, but everything that gets your attention does not deserve the power to influence your direction. A comment can get your attention. A disappointment can get your attention. Someone else’s success can get your attention. An unexpected opportunity can get your attention. But before you allow any of those things to change your direction, you need to ask whether they have anything to do with where God is leading you.

This is why Proverbs says to “give careful thought to the paths for your feet.” Do not simply move because something got your attention. Consider where it will take you. Consider what it will cost you. Consider whether it aligns with what God has already spoken. Consider whether pursuing it will strengthen your assignment or distract you from it. Do not allow something that was only meant to get your attention to gain enough influence to change your direction.

Hebrews 12:1–2 tells you to run with perseverance the race marked out for you, “fixing our eyes on Jesus.” There is a race marked out specifically for you. You cannot run it effectively while constantly looking sideways at someone else’s lane. When your attention becomes consumed with what everyone else is doing, comparison begins whispering questions: “Am I behind? Should I be doing that? Why hasn’t that happened for me? Should I be moving faster?” But someone else’s movement is not necessarily your instruction. Their pace is not necessarily your pace, their opportunity is not necessarily your opportunity, and their assignment is not necessarily yours. God did not ask you to keep pace with everybody around you. He asked you to follow Him.

Sometimes what distracts you is not beside you; it is behind you. You can become so occupied with what happened yesterday that you struggle to give attention to what God is doing today. You replay the conversation, revisit the disappointment, reconsider what someone did, and wonder how things might have been different. Philippians 3:13–14 speaks of forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. Paul was not pretending the past did not happen; he was refusing to allow what was behind him to control his pursuit of what was ahead.

You can remember without returning. You can learn without lingering. You can acknowledge what happened without allowing it to determine where your feet go next. Remember, you crossed over. You do not need to spend your entire new season standing at the Jordan talking about what happened before the crossing. Carry the wisdom forward, but keep your feet moving in the direction God is leading now.

Some distractions, however, are harder to recognize because they do not look wrong. Some distractions look like opportunities. They may fit your gifts, flatter your abilities, or even appear to be an answer to prayer. But something can be good and still not be God’s assignment for you. First Corinthians 10:23 reminds you that while something may be permissible, not everything is beneficial.

Just because you can do something does not mean you are called to do it. Just because someone asks does not mean God assigned it. Just because a door opens does not mean you have to walk through it. This is where discernment becomes necessary. Before you change direction because an opportunity appeared, give careful thought to the path of your feet.

Sometimes staying focused requires saying no. No to something that will consume time God assigned elsewhere. No to unnecessary conflict. No to the need to explain yourself to everybody. No to responsibilities God never asked you to carry. No to an impressive opportunity that would pull you away from something less visible but more important. Every yes costs something. A yes costs time, attention, energy, focus, or availability. Therefore, before saying yes, ask whether that yes moves you toward your God-given assignment or merely makes you busier.

Ephesians 5:15–16 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.” Paying attention is part of wisdom. Your time matters. Your focus matters. Your energy matters. You cannot continually give your best resources to things that have nothing to do with where God is leading you.

There is also another distraction you must guard against: the promise itself. You can become so focused on reaching or maintaining what you prayed for that the blessing begins competing with the Blesser for your attention. You prayed for the opportunity, the increase, the ministry, the business, the open door, or the new territory, but now maintaining it consumes the time you once spent seeking God.

Moses understood the danger of reaching a destination without God’s Presence. In Exodus 33:15 he said, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” Let that become the posture of your heart: “God, I want what You have promised, but I do not want the promise more than I want You. I want the opportunity, but not if maintaining it causes me to neglect Your Presence. I want increase, but not if increase causes my prayer life to decrease.” So, when you hear this again, you have not been this way before, you need to remember that you need God here just as much as you needed Him before you crossed.

Experience can become another subtle distraction. After you have done something successfully several times, it is easy to assume you already know how to handle it. You have knowledge now. You have resources. You have connections. You know what worked last time. But Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” You can possess the ability to build something and still need God to tell you whether, when, and how to build it.

Do not become so experienced that you stop asking for direction. Do not become so gifted that you stop seeking wisdom. Do not become so anointed that you stop praying. Do not become so familiar with the road that you stop paying attention to the One ordering your steps.

You have said, “I’m more anointed today than I was yesterday.” If you are more anointed today, then become more attentive today. Greater anointing should not produce greater independence; it should produce greater surrender. Luke 12:48 reminds us that to whom much is given, much is required. Greater territory requires greater stewardship. Greater influence requires greater discernment. Greater opportunity requires greater discipline. Greater anointing requires greater surrender.

Nehemiah gives us a beautiful picture of guarding focus. While he was rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall, people repeatedly attempted to pull him away from the work. His answer in Nehemiah 6:3 was, “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down.” Nehemiah understood that an invitation did not automatically deserve his attention.

There will be moments when you need that same conviction. You may have to decide, “I cannot come down.” I cannot come down from prayer to entertain unnecessary confusion. I cannot come down from obedience because somebody does not understand my assignment. I cannot come down from discipline because comfort is calling me. I cannot come down from what God told me to build just because another opportunity looks more exciting. You have come too far to allow every distraction to determine your direction.

And if you realize that you have become distracted, remember the GPS story. Missing a turn does not mean the destination disappeared. God is gracious enough to redirect you. Isaiah 30:21 says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” If you have been looking backward, refocus. If you have been watching everybody else, put your eyes back on Jesus. If you have become too busy to hear God, you need to make room again. Do not spend so much time condemning yourself for the missed turn that you miss the new direction God is giving you now.

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Let His Word help you examine where your feet are going. Let it expose distractions, correct your course, and remind you of your assignment when everything around you is competing for your attention.

This brings you right back to Proverbs 4: fix your gaze, consider your path, remain steadfast, and do not turn to the right or the left. Your focus matters because your focus can influence your direction, and your direction determines where your footsteps eventually take you. You  have not been this way before, so guard your focus. God is still leading. The destination has not changed. You do not need to chase every voice, respond to every distraction, accept every invitation, or walk through every open door. Fix your eyes. Give careful thought to your path. Stay focused. Pay attention. And keep walking in the direction God has given you.

Let’s Pray:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for another day. Thank You for Your Presence, Your Word, and Your direction. Thank You that I do not have to walk through unfamiliar territory trying to figure everything out by myself. You are with me, You are guiding me, and Your Word gives light to my path. Father, as Your Word tells me to fix my gaze directly before me and give careful thought to the path of my feet, help me become intentional about what receives my attention. Do not allow something that was only meant to get my attention to gain enough influence to change my direction. Teach me to recognize the difference between something that demands my attention and something that deserves my focus. Show me anything that has captured my attention but has nothing to do with my assignment. Reveal the distractions I recognize and the ones I have not yet recognized. Guard my heart, because everything I do flows from it. Guard my eyes, because what I continually watch can influence what I desire. And guard my feet, so that I do not turn to the right or the left when You have called me to continue forward. Forgive me for the times I have watched people more than I have watched You. Forgive me for comparing my pace, progress, gifts, opportunities, or journey with someone else’s. Your Word tells me to fix my eyes on Jesus, so today I turn my attention back to You. Help me run the race You have marked out for me without constantly looking into somebody else’s lane. Father, help me release what is behind me. I thank You for yesterday’s lessons, but I refuse to allow yesterday to consume today’s attention. Help me remember without returning, learn without lingering, and carry wisdom forward without carrying bondage with me. I have crossed over, and I do not want my eyes looking backward while You are directing my feet forward. Give me discernment concerning opportunities. Everything that looks good may not be God for me. Everything I am capable of doing is not necessarily something You have assigned me to do. Before I say yes, teach me to seek You. Before I change direction, teach me to give careful thought to the path of my feet. Give me courage to say no when saying yes would pull me away from what You have already told me to do. Father, guard my time, my attention, my energy, my heart, and my mind. Show me where I am spending resources You intended for my assignment. Teach me to establish boundaries without guilt and maintain discipline without becoming rigid. Lord, do not allow the promise to become greater than Your Presence. If You bless me, keep me close. If You enlarge my territory, enlarge my prayer life. If You increase my influence, increase my humility. If You increase the anointing upon my life, increase my surrender. I do not want to become so busy maintaining what You gave me that I stop spending time with the One who gave it. Do not allow experience to replace dependence. Even when I think I know what to do, remind me to ask You. Even when the road looks familiar, remind me that I have never lived this exact day before. Keep me teachable, prayerful, humble, and attentive. Father, when something attempts to pull me away from what You assigned me to build, give me the conviction of Nehemiah to say, “I cannot come down.” Help me recognize when a conversation, conflict, invitation, relationship, or opportunity is attempting to steal focus that belongs to my assignment. And Father, if I have already become distracted, thank You for Your grace to redirect me. I refuse to spend another day condemning myself for a missed turn. Realign my heart, refocus my eyes, and redirect my steps. Let me hear Your voice saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” God, help me walk the fine line as I pursue the narrow path. Keep me from confusing busyness with purpose, opportunity with assignment, comparison with inspiration, or urgency with Your instruction. Give me wisdom to know what deserves my attention and discipline to release what does not. I am more anointed today than I was yesterday, so help me become more surrendered, more disciplined, more focused, and more dependent upon You today. I do not want greater anointing without greater character, greater territory without greater wisdom, or greater influence without greater intimacy with You. Father, I have not been this way before, so I need You here. Keep me close enough to hear You, focused enough to see You, disciplined enough to follow You, and humble enough to receive correction when my attention begins pulling my feet in the wrong direction. Today I choose to fix my eyes forward. I choose to give careful thought to my path. I choose not to turn to the right or the left because of distractions. I choose to keep my eyes on Jesus and my feet moving in the direction You have chosen for me. In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nugget ~ What holds your attention can influence your direction. Fix your eyes forward, give careful thought to your path, and don’t let distractions turn your feet away from where God is leading you.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…