3rd John 2 Program - A Week in Review

A Week in Review

It has been a few days since I have sent out a journal. Not because I didn’t want to. I went through another week of unusual battles that I see now I really didn’t have to participate in. I guess maybe when Joshua and Caleb took the promised land, it may sound a bit more glorious than it actually was – I don’t know. One thing I do know from my current point of view is that taking it does not mean the milk and honey will be the only thing we will encounter when we get there.

Until we leave this planet, there will always be those slimy snakes crawling around and giants trying to get in our way. But, oh but for the grace of Almighty God – we can take it! This battle between us and the devil(s) belongs to the Lord. When I think I can fight it on my own, I am in 100% pride – which God hates.

I just spent the entire week last week looking at the pride the Lord was showing in me as I listened to the teachings on the subject of pride verses humility. I could see how it has reared its ugly head in my life in so many ways. The only problem I had when looking at these things was a lot of self-condemnation. That is not of God.

Learning to be corrected without feeling condemned is a BIG deal. While I saw God trying to reveal things that needed some course correction for my life, I kept leaning toward this one thing with what I was eating from old thoughts of supposed bondage to food. That was not the real problem. The real problem was learning to let go of the steering wheel and allow God to do the driving.

It is allowing Him to lead me on what to eat, asking Him to help me and then doing what He says. It is asking Him to show me what to focus on first in my day as I go to my work after spending time with Him. It’s not being afraid to let Him take the lead. He will never take control. He will only lead. If we choose not to follow, He is a perfect gentleman and will let us try on our own, until we fail enough and come to the end of ourselves.

I was shown the life of king Nebuchadnezzar last week and what happened to him in the wilderness because of his pride. When he finally REALLY understood who God is and His power, he finally submitted to it and he was restored.

I was shown the life of Job and how he had been prideful – self righteous and not thinking he had to correct anything because of all his good works. Wow! How many of us think we are in good standing with God because of our “good works?” I will be the first to raise my hand. I have been trying to do this and that in an effort to get healed and prosperous, all for nothing.

Through dreams and visions the Lord has shown me that I needed to take my sticky little fingers off of the steering wheel long enough to say, “OK, I give up God! I can’t do this my way. How do You want to do this?”

I saw the life of Daniel whose unwavering commitment to God and his refusal to bow to serve or worship any other God earned him tremendous favor and promotion. I was reminded of the long wait in a dreary dungeon where Joseph was tucked away for 12 years while God watched how he responded to the difficult and un-preferred circumstances he found himself in. All that time Joseph refused to complain and get bitter. Instead he honored God right where he was at and one day – ALL OF A SUDDEN, he was let out.

In those years, Joseph had been tucked away and protected by God while other things were being lined up to set up the perfect day for his release and promotion where God would use him to save a nation. It makes me think of Esther. A slave girl sent before a king to be used to set the nation of Israel free from annihilation.

As I looked at my life and the way I have treated people out of pride, I had to be real with myself and realize that even pride toward people equals pride toward God. He HATES it! When we don’t honor those in authority over us, or we don’t listen and show respect, we interrupt people, act selfishly, all kinds of things that can boil down to stinking pride, I certainly confess I have been guilty.

On the positive side of all this, I went to our church meeting last night and God had shown me before I ever arrived to be ready to receive. I was and I did! It came at me from every direction from the people in the ministry we serve in. It was like God was firing darts of love and answers at me from every direction. People making comments that showed they were glad I was there and missed me when I’m not, to yet others telling me encouraging words and how the Lord is touching them through this blog. Sometimes it is good to know we are loved and appreciated without really needing that at all. We must remember that God loves and appreciates us as we labor for Him. That needs to always be enough.

After all the down moments I have unnecessarily experienced recently, it was like God was using His mighty arms to wave His love over me in streams last night. I went out of there so encouraged that I could hardly believe what just happened. There’s no way to explain it all here – you had to be me and you had to be there in that moment. But I believe if we are paying enough attention to the Lord, we will hear Him and see Him trying to speak to us and to woo us closer to Him.

This past week He spoke to me through animals, people, His word and circumstances, all of which were pointing me closer to Him and giving me correction as well. The thing I had to stop doing was looking at that correction through a single lens and thinking it was this when it was really that. In fact, my glasses even dropped and one of the lenses popped out. How odd is that!

A week ago, a man of God was used to show me that it was OK to have something to eat that I don’t normally have. I had it and went on. No big deal. The real deal was that Jesus was trying to show me that I am free. In that freedom, there is healthy choices and boundaries to maintain a healthy weight and keep our insides functioning well.

Today, when we unexpectedly went to a brunch at a golf course, I had things I would not normally eat, and I enjoyed them. I fought the fear that tried to come and had a great meal. As good as it all was, I would not ever choose to eat like that on a daily basis - been there and done that and it nearly killed me – literally. A poor diet and not enough exercise will take anyone down to the grave after a period of time.

But the whole premise of what this program is named after – 3 John 2, is to learn to live a life of balance in ALL things. What we think, what we say, how we listen, how we submit to the Lord and others; how we treat others, how we work and treat our own family, and how we treat ourselves. It includes rest and quiet time. It includes fun and vacations and ministry to the people around us who need an encouraging word or a helping hand.

When I first started blogging back in 2016, the purpose was good, but my focus was off. It was centered around eating addictions. I was foolishly convinced that the food was the problem when it really wasn’t. When we have a problem with eating too much, or too little, we are only trying to cover up the real thing that is eating us. That can be many things and different for each one of us based on our past experiences and current circumstances. It all has a root of FEAR! A hundred people can hear the same message in one church service and each one will get something different out of it if they choose to receive what God has for them.

My bigger issue was not being able to sit and listen to the Lord and WAIT on Him. It’s a big deal, for without Him, we really can achieve nothing that will be good and lasting.

Last night’s message focused on what we say and how God will do for us what comes out of our mouth…

Numbers 14:26-28 AMP

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who murmur [in discontent] against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they are making against Me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just what you have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you; 

The meeting was all about how we speak and the power of our words. In the verses above we see how the people complained and God said He would do what THEY SAID. In all the battles I have been engaging in lately, I have not been speaking out the confessions that will help me to be free and stay free. But in reality, we must continue to meditate on God’s word; to speak it and agree with it.

This is what helps us because His word is a sharp sword. But God is the Word! He is the strength in what we say. These things won’t happen without His help and He helps us by giving us promises, prophecies through the right men and women of God and He speaks to us in our heart. All these things need to be what carries us as we go along with Jesus to get to the other side of our storms.

Yesterday, as I concluded the series on Pride verses Humility, I was shown how we need to yield to Holy Spirit. He will lead us and show us in one way or another if we are on the right path or doing the right thing.

All we need to do is yield – in other words, do what He is putting in our spirit to do. When we are not sure, we can ask, and He is faithful to help us. Hallelujah! He makes it ever so easy. So I got up and stirred myself up yesterday and went to praising Him, worship, praying and crying from my heart to God. I stopped just sitting in the chair like some weakling who had been whipped in a battle. I got up and stirred myself up. I danced and enjoyed being with Him! It was glorious.

I just hit the play button on my iTunes on the iPhone, and Holy Spirit took it from there. Every song that played next were songs of God’s goodness, His love and His purpose for me. He was comforting me and lifting me, and I was so blessed.

So why am I sharing all this? It is because I was prompted of the Lord a long time ago to bring others along with me. I didn’t know how that would look. A recent healing meeting showed me that no matter where I am in my walk, I can bring someone else along. I am hearing from strong men and women of God about allowing God to get me to the destiny He has planned and to be a problem solver for others in this world. By investing in others, I know God who is a covenant keeping God will sow that back into me.

As He pours into me, I can release it to you and have faith that He will use it to bless you in the way you need to be blessed and encourage to keep going on in faith toward the goal He was for you – hallelujah!

In conclusion, I opened to the same thing I saw at the church meeting last night…

Lamentations 3:21-26 AMP

But this I call to mind, therefore I have hope. It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion and my inheritance,” says my soul; “Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him, to those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word]. It is good that one waits quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

I am trusting that this will bring God’s blessings to you in the very exact way He intends for you today.

Love and blessings in Christ!

Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

Hannylynn05@gmail.com