Tag Archives: Faith

Life of the Reluctant Follower

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God continues to work through us as long as we are receptive and obedient, though He never fails to leave the reluctant follower behind.

~ Lisa Blair

What is a reluctant follower? It is someone who hears God’s voice but does not respond with immediate vigor, instead examining the pros and cons of how it will affect one’s life.

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,“Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,…They always go astray in their heart” Hebrews 3:7-9, NIV

I think we have all been there, and are learning that obedience is immediate, in the present, now, even if we don’t understand where God is leading us. God’s voice directs our walk and informs our thinking. When He says, ‘follow me’, it is not a request, it is a command. We are His children.

In Hebrews 3:8, the term today, refers to the present, and should not be delayed until tomorrow, the command refers to this moment. God gives no commands about the future, the action requested is in the moment. We are commanded not to worry about tomorrow, but to focus on the day. Therefore, it follows that His command is for the day and requires action in the day, or, today. Obedience to God’s commands should never be sidelined by reluctance.


A reluctant follower is one whose heart is hardened, meaning they have a stubborn heart, are self absorbed, and tend to procrastinate. Why do so many procrastinate? It could be that they are weighing the outcome because they do not know God’s voice, or they do know His voice but are slow to respond. Learning to identify God’s voice is important. Slow response is a form of reluctance.

Isaiah 30:21 NIV 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.”
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The GW version says, “You will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way. Follow it, whether it turns to the right or to the left.”

God designed our path before we were born, He knows everything about us including when we will heed His voice and when we won’t. He gave us free-will to make decisions regarding our relationship with Him. He offers direction but allows us to choose to be obedient, reluctant, or non-responsive. The thing I have learned over time is that reluctance and non-responsiveness is our loss and we suffer the consequences of disobedience, later regretting not acting when God spoke. Failure produces a continual inner dialogue about failing to act, and a lost opportunity to follow God’s command. Reluctance also places you in situations where the lesson may need to be repeated. In short, you may find yourself in GPS mode where God redirects you to offer another opportunity to follow His Will.

We think we can camouflage our reluctance to respond to God’s command. But, the truth is, God knows everything, sees everything, and hears everything, and as soon as a thought enters our mind countering His command to act, we enter into conversation with Him. We open The dialogue with our thoughts.

Scriptures —biblegateway.com | References—Gotquestions.org; Blue letter bible.org. Sermon Notes for Hebrews 3:7-19. Chuck Smith; biblegateway.com, Commentaries, Hebrews 3:7-19 | Images—Google Images; LAB Photos

I am Thankful!

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I am thankful for being a child of God.

LISA BLAIR

Today is Thanksgiving in the USA, it’s our time to share what and why we are thankful. I am so thankful for so many things. My list is in this order – I am thankful for having a Sovereign God who is my Father in heaven, my family (husband of 47 years, three sons , daughter-in-laws and son-in-law, two granddaughters, one 11 and the other 2, and many cousins). We are blessed to have a 100 yr old Aunt who still lives in her own home and walks the bay several times a week. She has spent her life in church, and as they say, is a God fearing woman.

I’m thankful for our health and prosperity and the fact that Christ was by my husband and my side this year during health challenges that could have turned out much different. We are well.

But most of all I am thankful that Christ died for our sins. Our salvation is the result of Him taking on the worst of humanity to free us.

As long as I have Christ, I know my loved ones who shared their lives with me, raised me, cared for me, and made certain my memories are bright, are with God. 

I will continue to be thankful everyday and see the wonders of Christ in everything. Whether I suffer, experience trials and tribulations, or am in a place of peace. God will always be my Savior. I will continue to strive in obedience to His Word, His Will and His Life.

Never Enough Testimonies

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All to often we pray, solicit prayer experience God’s blessings but never share our testimonies and victories.

~ Lisa Blair

All to often we pray, solicit prayer experience God’s blessings but never share our testimonies and victories. Sharing God’s grace, healing and strength is just as important as the prayer seeking God’s help. So, today I share this and encourage you to share His blessings as well.

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TESTIMONY

Praise the almighty power of God. I have submitted multiple prayer requests over the past two years regarding a friends who was being attacked by a form of fibromyalgia in Europe. Eventually, she was bedridden and unable to do anything for herself.

She texted me the other day to thank everyone that prayed for her. Deliverance has arrived, with the help of everyone who prayed for her complete recovery. She did not give up, or give in, but kept her eyes on the strength of the Lord. Result, she received new medications and the illness reversed itself. She walked her dog for the first time in two years, two days ago. 

She is in physical therapy, strengthening muscles etc., but functional again. She was always a God fearing woman and did not let Satan strip her faith.

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I love our victory stories, our God is our strength. When we walk by faith and not sight all things are possible. 1 Chronicles 16:12 tells us – “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”

Thank you prayer warriors from the bottom of our hearts.

Images – Google Free Images

Everyday is Different

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I love waking up to the new day ready to experience our Father’s plan for my day. Each day is new, no boredom if you are His child and live by faith and not sight.

~ Lisa Blair
Corporate jet waiting to take off.

Life unfolds with new wonders, gifts, and challenges every single day. Some large and extravagant, others small and barely noticeable. Some things are joyful and others laborious. Our God does not believe in boredom. He created seasonal change. He chose you and planned your life experiences accordingly. We are all part of His master plan. His children are well cared for, and want for nothing when we live in faith.

What Does, God’s Will Be Done And Not My Own, Really Mean?

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There are times in our lives when we surrender ourselves as a form of selfish need, and times when we surrender because we want a covenant relationship with the Lord. Where are you on the spectrum? It may be time to decide. You are on the precipice of surrender.

~ Lisa Blair
busy.org

Many of us tend to use this phrase nonchalantly. This is not a thoughtless statement or a decision to take lightly. When we express this thought, we are entering a covenant, a pack, with God. From this point forward, there is no looking back. This is the point of surrender.

I have heard this scripture spoken in many contexts during my lifetime. I imagine you have, as well. You may have glibly spoken it during a conversation. As a student of the Word, I now pose the question, how many times have I broken covenant with God? How many times have I uttered this statement and then chosen my own path, made my own decision, or followed others, overriding God’s purpose and plan for my life?

This gives rise to three questions we all struggle with:

1) What does ‘your will be done’ mean?

2) What does surrender mean?

3) Are you ready to commit to the covenant with God?

WHAT DOES YOUR WILL BE DONE MEAN?

When Jesus was preparing to take his place up the cross, after he could no longer take the pain, and wanted to be released from his duty, he cried out,

“My father! If it is possible, let this Cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Matthew 26: 39 NLT)

This is the turning point in Christ’s prayer. “Here, Jesus demonstrated the turning point in prayer for all of us. Prayer is not about bending God’s will to get what we want. The purpose of prayer is to seek God’s will and then align our desires with his. Jesus willingly placed his desires in full submission to the father’s will.” (Not my will but yours be done. Learn Religions.com)

When we make the statement, we are in effect, praying. We are committing ourselves to God’s Will for our lives. His plan for our lives was established long ago, long before we were born, perhaps before He created this universe. If we allow God to lead us, He will show us the path to take. Your will be done means you will abide by His will and not your own. 99% of the time, your purpose will be different than His. You are not first in His Will, but you surrender regardless and are bound by the covenant you created when you cried out the phrase.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11 NJKV)

In effect, when you call on God, pray to Him and listen to Him, you are abiding in His Will for your life. Your (totally) surrender yourself, holding nothing back, to His Will and His Way.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SURRENDER?

Surrendering means yielding ownership, to relinquish control over what we consider to be ours, to relinquish our life, all of it. We surrender what God has given us and how we wanted to use it to become His steward of this life. When we surrender to God, we are acknowledging His ultimate control of everything, including our circumstances, past, present, and future.

Billy Graham wrote: If you want a change in your life, if you want forgiveness and peace and joy that you’ve never known before, God demands total surrender, in so doing, our Lord becomes the ruler of your life.

When we surrender and give up all we are, we no longer seek personal gain, we are delivered from sin, and become useful to God to conduct His work on earth.

When we reach this point in our lives, making moral choices, we must choose to follow our own sinful nature (our carnal life) or seek God and surrender ourselves to Him.

ARE YOU READY TO COMMIT TO THE COVENANT WITH GOD?

Once someone speaks this statement, utters this prayer, recites this scripture, conversion has been set in place, you are on the precipice of changing your life to become God’s tool, His steward, and His servant.

Take heed, think this through before you find yourself amid the war for your soul. It is a choice, do you follow your carnal desires, or surrender them to our Lord and Savior, the head of our lives?

Are you ready to enter into covenant with God and all that it entails? Are you ready to allow God to take you wherever He needs you? Are you prepared to commit?

Internet Resources – Thy Will Be Done. lifehopeandtruth.com; A Message From Billy Graham. billygraham.org; Surrender To God. http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org; Total Surrender| My Utmost For His Highest. utmost.org; What Does It Mean To Surrender To God? http://www.gotquestions.org

Unexplainable Peace Every Day

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The peace that is greater than our understanding is not a once in a lifetime experience. God supplied the Isrealites with daily manna, and He invites us to experience peace every day of our lives. We are blessed with daily renewal and all that it entails: peace, love, and joy.

~ Lisa Blair

Once Upon a Time, I was a complainer and envious. My parents provided and more than met my needs but that was not enough. I wanted what others had. I was never happy or content with what I had. I was not grateful for what my parents provided or God. I HAD NO PEACE.

It was not until I became much older and really focused on God”s Word that I began to I understand what He was conveying to all of His people, including me. The more I read about God’s peace, the more I wanted to experience it. Initially, I thought I deserved His peace just because. Later I wanted to experience it because I was tired of being envious and angry. As my prayer life grew stronger, I wanted to feel the gift of God’s presence in my life. His presence exudes peace. I wanted to bask in relationship His love, His peace, and His grace.

Finally, while praying in desperation one day, I began to feel a quiet that was not defined by the absence of sound, it was more a feeling in the middle of a melody. This quiet evolved into peace. It was peace greater than my understanding. God gave me an inkling of what I could experience every day if I chose. It was my responsibility to want it and to do so meant that I had to live the Word and become more like Christ. I had to learn to be grateful for everything He provides, including chastisement.

I’m not exactly certain when, but one day I noticed that I was praising and thanking God for everything that encompassed my day as it was happening. Praising and thanking God became a norm before I realized it was happening. It became an involuntary act. This brings me to the present, we had a few emergencies that interfered with our vacation savings. We are going on vacation next week. I was concerned about our disposal income, and rather than fretting and complaining, I found myself thanking God for the morning sounds, for His love and His mercy. I thanked Him for our vacation that was paid for, for our cousins who are vacationing with us this year, for my family, a roof over our heads, family members stepping out of the dark and into His light, for people overcoming addictions and carnal habits, for our leaders, my country (USA), and the world. During this time with God, I was suddenly filled with His peace. Things were not important. I was ensconced in His love and His peace. It was this day that I discovered that His peace can carry you throughout the day unmoved by worldly circumstances.

The peace that is greater than our understanding is not a once in a lifetime experience. Just like the manna God provided Moses’ people, the Israelites, and brought them out of Egypt, He offers His peace to us every day of our lives.

Moses said, This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt. ~‭‭Exodus‬ ‭16:32‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God gave us His Word to align our thinking with Christ’s example of living. In Matthew 4:4 it is written that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Now, this may seem like a departure from peace, but follow my line of thinking.

The Manna represents physical food and spiritual sustenance. The manna is a food source for both needs. Manna was a type of bread that could only remain fresh for one day. It could not be saved. The Word is spiritual manna. The Word teaches us how to receive God”s peace. GotQuestions.org describes peace as a state of tranquility or quietness of spirit that transcends circumstances. It is not a continuous state, but also must be renewed daily.

Living in peace can be compared to the petals of a flower unfolding in the morning sunlight. The petals of peace in our lives unfold as we learn more about God. We discover that His character is always faithful. We experience His continual goodness. We read more of His promises (Psalm 100:5; 115:11; Isaiah 26:4). We learn to bask in His overwhelming love for us (Romans 8:38–39). We refuse to allow ever-changing circumstances to determine our level of contentment, relying instead upon the character of God that never changes (James 1:17; Malachi 3:6). (GotQuestions, Ibid)

We attempt to define PEACE, but our language does not have words to define it. We can only explain it in some fashion after we personally experience it, and the explanation is left wanting. The only legitimate explanation is penned in the Bible – God’s Peace transcends our understanding.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 NIV


Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ. Philippians 4:7 NLT