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What? It’s not all about me? Grant me the grace of Philippians 2:3 so that I have the patience and depth of surrender of my identity into you needed to truly consider the needs of others better than my own. Jesus, you said that if I desire to find my life I must lose it, perhaps the first step in losing my life is raising my awareness to the emotions and needs of those around me…to seek ways that I can support and assist others into personal excellence rather than seeking out ways that others can help and support me. Once again, I cry out John the Baptist’s prayer: more of You God…less of me.

 

Edge God In Podcast Week 15: Leadership: Self-Awareness EQ

 

Self-Awareness => Self-Management

Social Awareness => Relationship Management

 

Focus for the study is on the 3rd essential component of emotional intelligence is social awareness. Our ability to effectively manage our relationships with those around us is in direct proportion to our ability to manage our own perceptions and emotions. As we expand our ability to manage our own emotions we are better equipped to tune into the emotions of people around us which is a key element in this 3rd step of EQ (Emotional Intelligence). How aware are you of the emotions of others? Do you listen to be understood or to understand? What does God say?

Learn:

Social Awareness: 2 Timothy 2:16: “Avoid profane idle talk for such people will become more and more godless. Their teaching will spread like gangrene.”

Be aware of the energy/behavior of others that surround you.

2 Timothy 3:2: “People will be self-centered and lovers of money, proud, haughty, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, irreligious, callous, implacable, slanderous, licentious, brutal, hating what is good. Traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They make a pretense of religion yet deny it’s power.”

 

2 Timothy 4:3: “Be aware for a time is coming when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths (in amnesia of God’s presence)…But you be self-possessed (not possessed by the ways of the crowd; shiny objects; fame game) in ALL circumstances, put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.”

What is your ministry in this world? How does the distraction of the world bump you off course? What is your vice that negatively affects your social awareness? Is it cravings for position; possessions or popularity?

Reflect:

5 ways to Lead with Spiritual Intelligence with Emotional Awareness:

 

Care about people – be aware just as God was.

Exodus 3:7:The LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who       are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.

2. Embrace differences to make a big difference – don’t view differences as a melting pot but rather as a mosaic of opportunities

Romans 14:13. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.

3. Help individuals experience significance - Significance is the force that changes people lives and perspectives on what matters most

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in he...

5 ways to Activate Aging Grace:

Old is new – Romans 8:28-29, 35-39

This is a beginning of a new adventure

Let God be mold you – Genesis 37:3-4

Allow people and experiences to shape you 

Know that you are called by God  - Exodus 4:1-17

Create a mission statement for the latter third of life.

It's okay to be vulnerable - Ruth 1:1-17

Aging brings with it many changes that require emotional and mental adaptation—but our loving God is in control.

2. You are getting nearer to God – Psalm 4

Losing our grip to human attachments – moving us into a greater relationship with him that should not be limited because of our age.

Identify & Integrate:

Seek wisdom and Knowledge - Read Gods Word on Aging and develop a ritual embedding it into your heart.

Pray for Gods understanding of beauty and youth and remove vanity, doubt, or fear.

Change your perspective on things and approach aging as an adventure.

Honor those around you who are aging.

Maintain:

Be mindful of self and others

Revisit Gods word and listen to his direction for you

Journal

Dear God, grant me the grace to know that no matter what I look like, I was created beautifully by you. Help me to see continue to see myself in your image and those I observe losing what we believe to be beauty during the aging process. Help me spread love and kindness, support and help to the aging mentally spiritually and physically. As I help myself, let the light you gave me shine for others.

Edge God In Podcast Week 14: Activate Aging Grace

Our topic for today is to Activate Aging Grace and we will do this through what the scripture tells us.  A tenant of Emotional Intelligence tells us that Self-Awareness => Self-Management.

But are we following this tenant in the flesh or in the spirit?

God's way to grow old is to develop a walk with him. Ps: 71:18 says, “Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come”.

The reason this old man was able to handle his problems so well in his old age, is because he developed a walk with God, in the years leading to this time and he still was doing God’s work by showing his power to everyone.

The Bible presents aging as a normal process, a natural part of life, an honor.  Proverbs 16:31  and 20:29 speak to the benefits of gray hair.“Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life” (Proverbs 16:31; see also Proverbs 20:29).

God wants us to remember that life is short (James 4:14) and that the beauty of youth is soon gone (Proverbs 31:30; 1 Peter 1:24)

Learn:

1: We have too much vanity and should work to change it:

Ecclesiastes 1:2 Vanity2 of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All vanity.

We are born with a natural tendency to “live for the moment,” but the ultimate futility of that approach is the subject of concern. Proverbs 16:18

2: Our current goal in life is beauty and youth which should be changed to wisdom and knowledge.

God's desire for us is that we become wiser. Solomon’s hope is that people will grow wiser in the use of their God-given “portion” or allotment before they die. Ecclesiastes 8: 1-  Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.

3: Individualism has become a disturbing aspect of aging and not caring for the old has become the new norm.

Timothy 5:3-4 says if we honor our parents we are honoring God. It says Honor widows who are truly widows. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

What is your mindset on aging? How does the Fountain of Youth take you off course and away from his intentions? Are you social aware of his thought on the aging process, are does the flesh and ego get in the way?

Edge God In Bible Study =>

2nd Step in Emotional Intelligence:

Self-management: Requires high noticing around what spins you and the ability to adjust.

How? Allow the Holy Spirit to guide the flesh vs. the flesh to guide the Spirit.

Romans: 8:5: Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh. Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.

Flesh: Romans 5:5:  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

If you live in the flesh you are concerned about the things in the flesh.  What are things of the flesh? Anything that distracts you from communion with God: status; fame; popularity; money; opinions of others; greed; malice; self glorification and gratification; jealousy; fits of rage; coveting. Basically like a spoiled child the flesh is never satisfied, it is always craving more. The flesh will also question God and feel victimized: Why me?

Colossians 3:5-10: “ 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.  You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

What is your vice? Have high noticing and then the ability to manage the fleshly flare-ups.

Colossians 3:12: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. The Spirit of God dwells in you. When you are in the Spirit you are pleasing to God: heartfelt compassion, putting up with others.

Romans 8:12: We are not debtors to the flesh.

High Noticing is essential for self-management. The fruit of the Spirit self-control and it is an essential ingredient for effective self-management.

~Lauren Estella

EdgeGodIn.com

Holy Spirit, grant me wisdom. Show me who you have created me to be to in this world. Help me to see myself as God sees me rather than how I judge myself. I give you permission to remove everything within me that is not of God, that does not glorify Him or make Him recognizable in my life: my judgments…towards self and others…my conclusions about life that are based in story verses reality, including assuming and mind reading. I am nothing without you Lord, and with you I am everything and feel complete, significant and valued. Refresh me Lord so that I remain in you. Have your way with me in spite of myself.

Edge God In Podcast 14: Leadership: Self-Awareness EQ

Self-Awareness => Self-Management

Social Awareness => Relationship Management

Click Here to Download the PDF Edge God In Bible Study for this Podcast: EdgeGodIn Week 13- 1st Step in Emotional Intelligence

Feed the Flock

Father God, I ask that you bless this bible study by opening up our hearts and minds to the learning you have for us today.  I ask you that you enrich our abilities to learn, digest, apply all that we learn in a way that creates change in our hearts and minds.  With your guidance, I ask that your word provides the knowledge needed to shepherd your flock toward the revelation of knowledge that you have for them.  I thank you in advance for enriching our lives with this time to learn and experience more of you.

Edge God in Podcast Week 12: Food for the Flock

What does it mean to feed to flock?

Feeding the flock is a commitment to the worship of God. It is an active process which requires one to directly and personally experience him. It also takes us being actively involved in the works of the church (church meaning the body of Christ).

What does God say about feeding the flock?

1 Peter 5:2 says, “shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;

Jeremiah 3:15 says "Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Jeremiah 23:4 says, “I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them, and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the LORD.

How to I shepherd the change in our hearts and minds?

In the world – We must be ready to receive the world no matter what state of readiness

Acts 17:10-11 says: received the work with all readiness, and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

We look too much into what we are told and don’t research or study what is there. In order to receive and flock the world, we need to be ready.

By faith – we have to return to the faith of the disciples. There were countless examples of their faith that stood the test of time. God says in Romans 14:23, that for whatever in not form faith is sin. He says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 twe walk by faith, not by sight.

Faith takes a relationship with God. It must be a relationship of trust at the root of the foundation. Trusting is hard if you can‘t see it and that is where the faith comes in.

Through the Gospels: they tell us that there is a sense of urgency in the feeding of the flock. God says we no not the time or hour when the son of man comes back but we do know what are work here is to do and that requires us to urgently and diligently work to do this.

Conclusion:  Feeding the flock can involve all forms of works in the church. Healing, ministering, teaching, etc.  Neglecting the "feeding the flock" is in turn very badly damaging to preaching the gospel to the world. You can’t be a casual observer but must be personally involved.

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Sweet Jesus you call me to take every thought captive and make it obedient to you, perhaps this is the 1 practice that will allow me to release stress and anxiety within my life. Give me the grace today to pray about everything that spins or bumps me out of your peace that passes all human understanding. The world screams for my attention as hundreds of shiny objects cross my path in a day. May gentleness flow through my intonation to myself and those around me.

Edge God In Podcast 12: 5 Power Themes You Want to Know

Click Here to Download the PDF Edge God In Bible Study for this Podcast: EdgeGodIn Week 12 5 Themes You Want to Know

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Dear Lord, help me to know deep in my soul that you have my best interests in mind so much so that no matter what happens around me in life I am able to trust with complete confidence that with you I am safe and loved.

Edge God In Podcast 10: Trust Trumps Fear

Click Here to Download the PDF Edge God In Bible Study for this Podcast: EdgeGodIn Week 10 Trust Trumps Fear

How are we as Christians view Instruction?

When giving instructions, you often see the imperative form in instruction manuals or when someone tells you how to do something.

Often there is  "sequencing" words to show the steps in the process. Like, "firstly", "secondly" and "finally".

Many times we are not sure if we are given appropriate instruction or it is not clearly articulated.  This leads to doubt, frustration, anger or the lack of a successful outcome.

So what should be our source of how we give accept and experience the best godly outcome for the instruction we experience?  This can be viewed in 3 simple ways.

Listening

Accepting

Gaining

Let’s dive deeper into these areas :

The first area in instruction is Listening:

Listening is something we are not taught to do, but it is so important in expanding knowledge capacity and having successful conversations.

Proverbs 19:20

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.”

This wisdom helps us strengthen and uncover areas of misunderstanding allowing us to improve relationships now and in the future.

Ask yourself:

Do you listen more than you talk?

Are you allowing yourself to take time to understand instruction in preparation for the future?

The second area of instruction is Accepting:

There is much instruction in our world but how do we know it is Godly instruction?

 1 John 4:1

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Jeremiah 33:3 

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

God give dignifies us with free, the power to make decisions of our own. This free will must be managed by instruction given to us by God.

Ephesians 6:14

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.”

This means we are protected by truth and righteousness.  And it also means that we have to use Jesus teaching as our guide and reference to acceptance of good instruction.

Ask yourself:

Are you evaluating the source to make sure it aligns with my Godly principles?

Are you asking God to be your guide in the instruction you are receiving?

How can I do this more often in my daily life?

 The last area of instruction is Gaining

A Harvard business review article once wrote that seeking advice is central to effective leadership and decision making. And that receiving advice is often seen as the passive consumption of wisdom. When the exchange is done on both sides both benefit.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

Proverbs 4:13

“Keep hold of instruction, do not let go, guard her, for she is your life.”

Ask yourself:

Are you taking and seeking the advice of other to gain better wisdom?

Do you hold on and value the instruction you are getting?

How are you going to apply the three areas of listening, accepting, and gaining in your life moving forward?

Estella & Lauren

EdgeGodIn.com 

Edge God In Podcast 8: How to Be Free From Frustration in Life

Frustration is an emotion that occurs when you want something to happen and it doesn’t. It can be as simple as driving to work. You want to drive to work without any interruptions and all of the sudden you hit traffic: SHAZAM FRUSTRATION slithers onto the scene and steals your peace. In daily life frustration will usually occur in the presence of the following needs:

The need to be right

The need to be liked

The need to understood

The need to get something you want: a promotion; a sale; a relationship; a break from hardship

All of the above fuels for frustration have one thing in common: NEED. I NEED this to happen in order to feel safe, connected, enough, valued, successful, at peace, confident…what is your muse?

What does God say about all of this NEED in life?  What solutions and wisdom does He give us to bring us out of NEED into trust, faith and profound confidence and peace?

The need to be right: Do you need the last word? The EGO screams for the last word and will twist our inner world hunting and gathering information to prove our case in relationships. What is that about? Where does this deep desire to be right come from? Explore the following statements the next time you feel frustration over wanting to be right:

If I’m not right then ______________________

I need you to know that I am right because _______________________________

Being right is important to me because____________________________________

Solution: Proverbs 21:2: “People may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart.” Lean into God’s wisdom in situations and practice humility along with speaking the truth in love. Resist the urge to convince from a place of self-satisfaction and leave room for the Lord to weigh the heart. Ask in the face of feeling the other person is wrong and you are right and you need to convince them of your position: “Lord grant me the grace of humility and release to feel your peace in the midst of differing opinions having full confidence that your truth will prevail, that is enough for me.”

The Need to be Liked: Galatians 1:10: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” I remember one time being spun by the thought that a certain person didn’t like me. In the midst of my imploding moment I heard the Lords gentle voice: “Excuse me? Excuse me? (in a very tender and firm intonation) just so you know, you are not here to be liked you are here to be loved and to love.”

Questions for reflection:

When have you NEEDED the approval of someone else in order to feel good about yourself?

Do you ever check how many likes you have on social media?

How much time do you spend checking your connection with human beings during the day (texting, calls, emails?)

How much time do you spend during your day checking on your connection with God (pausing and praying in God’s guidance and wisdom before moving forward into your next “to-do” item on your list?)

The Need to be Understood: Romans 15:3: “For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” The next time you feel misunderstood and frustration is occupying your interior world pause and imagine sitting with Jesus and handing over that need to be understood. Ask him to replace that need with his peace and confidence. Too often our need to be understood is fueled by EGO, the place where we edge God out and take the throne. The truth of many situations in life is that we don’t understand so why get frustrated when someone else c...