LifeLift

A few years ago, I found myself sitting in a nearby coffee shop.

(I find myself in places like that a lot.)

As I finished typing a chapter for a project I was completing, I stared out the oversized storefront window next to my table. Outside, the day was perfect. It wasn’t one of those dreary, grey-colored days that makes you feel foggy.

Yet, as a closed the computer (without turning it off, of course), I thought, “I’m really tired.”

Inside, something was brewing. Something wasn’t quite right…

☔️

I looked back outside. Sometimes the weather makes me feel tired, as if my body mimics what happens in the environment. Clearly, this wasn’t that, though.

“Why am I tired?” I pondered. “I went to bed last night around 8pm, watched a movie, and then slept 10 full hours. This doesn’t make sense…”

Then I thought about the bigger life situation in which I found myself. I looked at my phone (always on, right?) and re-read the previous few text messages. A once-close companion had drawn a sword against me. I realized I wasn’t tired as I sat there in the coffee shop, I was depressed…

And, no, I might not have met the clinical definition such that a professional could diagnose, treat, and prescribe me, but I was clearly down…

Now, get this, depression and tiredness often mirror each other. In other words…

#1- Depression can make you feel tired.

#2- Being tired can make you feel like you’re depressed.

☔️

In this episode of the podcast we talk about FOUR more signs you might be about to emotionally redline it…

The story above…? It highlights the second to the last…

Here are the others…

💔 You feel sickish or sluggish for no reason.

💔 You’re “short” or snippy.

💔 You feel depressed or down, and you can’t figure out why.

💔 You’ve recently endured trauma or “hard things.”

Listen in, then… for action steps you can take now towards wholeness, reference the free resources below….

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Important links

💜 The “best of” Soul Wholeness audio course = FREE at www.Jenkins.tv/best 

💜 The free PTSD self-check = www.Jenkins.tv/PTSD 

💜 Free Soul Wholeness paperback = http://www.Jenkins.tv/FSW 

💜 The Soul Wholeness video course = www.Jenkins.tv/SWV 

In music, the rests are as important as the notes you play. Life is the same way.

There’s a definite beat to Creation that works well for us when we embrace it.

We discussed this in the previous episode…

🌎 The created order is built on a rhythm of “off” and “on.” We’re designed for bursts of work and pauses for rests.

🌎 Part of living a life of balance means there are definite times of Sabbath and rest, those moments of complete OFF.)

In this talk we begin highlighting five signs you *might be living out of rhythm.

The first… is somewhat odd (at first glance)…

👉

Sign #1 of 5 = You can’t get quiet, don’t want to be alone, etc.

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Important links

💜 The “best of” Soul Wholeness audio course = FREE at www.Jenkins.tv/best 

💜 The free PTSD self-check = www.Jenkins.tv/PTSD 

💜 Free Soul Wholeness paperback = http://www.Jenkins.tv/FSW 

💜 The Soul Wholeness video course = www.Jenkins.tv/SWV  

If you’re like me, you consider your day to begin when you wake up in the morning. Right before you— if you’re like me— prep that coffee. Or, if you stayed up to midnight, you may look at your watch and think, “Oh, gee… it’s already tomorrow… a new day. I’ve got to get in bed.”

We’ve programmed ourselves to think of our days as "daylight first” and “nighttime second.” We get up to start the day; we go to bed to end it.

🌝

Turns out, that’s backwards. Creation doesn’t begin each new day’s clock with the sun. Creation begins with the moon.

If you go all the way back to the beginning of the Bible, back to the very first page, you find the story. There, we read a refrain over and over and over again. It’s so common you may have never noticed it before. I guarantee you, though, once you see it, you’ll never forget it.

Here it is: “There was evening and then morning, the ________ day.”

We find the phrase six times (Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31):

🌙☀️ Evening and then morning

🌙☀️ Dark and then day

🌙☀️ Rest and then work

🌙☀️ Pause and then play

🌙☀️ Off and then on

In God’s rhythm of Creation, days began with dark, not light. They began with the moon in the sky, not the sun. They began with sleep, not work. They began with rest, not activity.

That’s the rhythm of Creation.

From the beginning, the new day began when the sun dropped, at sundown. That was the sign of a new day, the rest. The rest came first.

🔥

What does it mean for us…?

And what does it mean for soul health, emotional wholeness, and living fully present?

That’s the topic of our discussion here…

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Important links

💜 The “best of” Soul Wholeness audio course = FREE at www.Jenkins.tv/best 

💜 The free PTSD self-check = www.Jenkins.tv/PTSD 

💜 Free Soul Wholeness paperback = http://www.Jenkins.tv/FSW 

💜 The Soul Wholeness video course = www.Jenkins.tv/SWV  

In our culture we value productivity…

… not the pause.

But, the pauses are often part of the productivity. And, they’re how we find healing, renewal, and the energy to move forward.

✅✅✅✅✅

If you’ve own a cell phone (I know, the technical name is mobile phone, now, and everybody has one), you’ve probably had unresolvable issues with it, called tech support, and then heard them tell you something like, “Alright, do this for me. Let’s perform something called a hard reset. We’re going to completely power the thing down, wait a few moments, and then start it back up.”

They always promise something that seems absurd for such a simple task as turning the phone off: “That should fix it.”

Generally, they’re right. It does.

📳

Now, here’s where it fits in with US…

… The more trips I make around the sun the more I realize we’re exactly like those machines. In order to “work right” we’ve got to pause, too.

That is, you’ve got to power off…

… and that’s where fun comes in….

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Important links

💜 The “best of” Soul Wholeness audio course = FREE at www.Jenkins.tv/best 

💜 The free PTSD self-check = www.Jenkins.tv/PTSD 

💜 Free Soul Wholeness paperback = http://www.Jenkins.tv/FSW 

💜 The Soul Wholeness video course = www.Jenkins.tv/SWV  

Unlocking your purpose changes everything. And, I believe your purpose is found in the area of your supernatural gifting… a topic we’ve been dissecting and discussing on the podcast for the past 4+ episodes).

But…

… as much as we’d like to “jump ahead” and “get it done,” we can’t just go from “here” to “there” without the proper foundation.

More important that any of the “purpose” you’ll do is walking with an awareness of who you are and who your Heavenly Father sees you as…

As you live from that, walking in His presence, your gifts overflow, spilling onto the world around you.

In the LifeLift framework we talk about “three keys” to find your purpose…

🔑 #1 = Instructional Obedience.

🔑 #2 = Natural Talents + Created Design.

🔑 #3 = Supernatural Giftedness.

Here’s the overview…

🔥

🔑 #1 = Instructional Obedience.

Scripture outlines several components which are clearly "the will of God."

Many people want to find God's will for them in terms of vocation and calling, as well as relationships and opportunities before them.

And, a lot of people are looking for "next level revelation." 

However, it's important to begin at the areas where God has already clearly spoken.

Everything else flows from here.

(And, note, God can— and will— use our past experiences and pain points in this area to help us connect with others, then walk them towards healing and wholeness also. There’s no shame in the Kingdom— only connection and redemption.)

🔑 #2 = Natural Talents + Created Design.

Whereas the directives God outlines for us in the written Word are radically similar for each of us, the way in which He created us is dramatically different.

Our natural birth-- and everything that comes "with the package" of us just being born-- highlights part of God's design for our lives.

When we unlock our Created Design, so much more begins to flow.

🔑 #3 = Supernatural Giftedness.

We've been born physically (meaning we're flesh) and we've been born spiritually (meaning we're also spirit).

In part 3 of the LifeLift Framework we learn that the Holy Spirit also brings spiritual gifts into our lives-- unique ways in which God actively moves through us to impact the world.

Discovering this area of supernatural giftedness IS your third key to unlock your purpose.

Now…

All three work together…

The three keys each work together, creating a synergistic effect in which the sum is far greater than the parts.

Furthermore, you already hold each of these keys in your hand. You don't need to look for something new. You simply need to use what God has already offered you...

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Links for this talk =

📗 tell us where to ship your free LifeLift book = www.Jenkins.tv/free 

📔 Purpose = www.Jenkins.tv/purpose 

✏️ take the 7-minute spiritual gifts Q&A, and discover how God uniquely empowers you to do something that far exceeds your natural, human capacity and function at the level of Heaven = www.Jenkins.tv/assessment-spiritual-gifts 

🔥 access the on-demand, online course = www.jenkins.tv/lifelift-200 

For the past few talks we’ve been working through the topic of “spiritual gifts” (even though, as we discussed in talk #1 of the series, that term doesn’t actually appear in the New Testament— something more powerful and insightful does, instead).

There are FOUR misconceptions people have about these “spiritual gifts” (re-listen to installment #1 of the series for a better understanding of what these gifts are). In this episode we want to walk through each of those…

Here’s what you need to know:

❌ Supernatural “gifts” and natural talents are NOT the same.

You receive your talents at your “first birth” (read: natural birth) and your spiritual gifts at your “second birth” (read: born again). For sure, you may “work” on both…

… but the originating point is different.

And, yes, they may “work together,” because the same God who created you IS the same God who redeems you.

❌ Supernatural “gifts” are not the same as title, rank, or position…

Sometimes, you see people with a business card that says APOSTLE or PROPHET or whatever…

For a season, I attended a church in which they swore— and actually called themselves— a “fivefold ministry.”

Problem is…

None of those leaders were. They simply gave themselves the title.

Sometimes, the titles sync-up with the gifts; other times they don’t. They’re not the same.

You can be gifted— and your gifts work— even IF you don’t have the position. So, don’t WAIT for a position in order to fulfill your purpose. Begin walking in it…

Your gifts, as Proverbs says, always “make room” for you (Proverbs 18:16).

❌ Supernatural “gifts” are not confined to the four walls of a church building-- or even an “organized religious system” like we have today.

People are beginning to think differently.

They're beginning to wonder what you've perhaps thought all along...

👉 If God "so loved the world..." (John 3:16), wouldn't it make sense that He sends people INTO the world to reach the world rather that just waiting for them to come to church?

👉 If Jesus really meant "as the Father sent Me, so I also send you" (John 20:21), wouldn't that mean that we also get called into the world, away from the "home base" of  the sanctuary? 

And…

👉 If Adam was called to "work Creation" before the Fall, might also work be a sacred calling, rather than a curse (Genesis 2)?

I think so…

(In the previous talk we noted that God can gift you to do ANYTHING He desires… so, don’t confine Him to a tidy box.)

❌ Supernatural “gifts” are not instances in which the Spirit “takes over” your natural faculties such that you have no control.

When a demon takes over a person, that person “loses control.” But, the Holy Spirit always allows us to stay in complete control of who we are. In other words, we co-labor with God when He chooses to do something TO us, then work THROUGH us, in order to reach TO others…

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Links for this talk =

📗 tell us where to ship your free LifeLift book = www.Jenkins.tv/free 

✏️ take the 7-minute spiritual gifts Q&A, and discover how God uniquely empowers you to do something that far exceeds your natural, human capacity and function at the level of Heaven = www.Jenkins.tv/assessment-spiritual-gifts 

🔥 access the on-demand, online course = www.jenkins.tv/lifelift-200 

The first time we see someone “clothed” with the Holy Spirit to do something on God’s behalf— at the capacity of Heaven— is found in Exodus 31:2-5. Oddly enough, it’s NOT a reference to God gifting Moses to speak, to set His people free, to lead them through the Red Sea (even though we know God was present in each of those moments).

Notice—

“See, I have chosen Bezalel… and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts…”

🔥

If you know the story, you recognize this as the moment God set the craftsman aside to build the Tabernacle. That is, the first time a person was “filled with the Spirit” to “minister” (read: serve) it was not a preacher or a musician… but a metalworker.

In other words…

If we thought God was confined to specific professions or trades, to specific activities or duties— as if some things were included in His domain and other things were excluded— we need to rethink. We’re thinking too small.

🔥

There’s no arena that exists outside the realm of God’s reach. Colossians 1:16-17 reminds us that “all things in Heaven and earth, seen and unseens… are created through Him and for Him.”

And that includes our daily work, whatever we do.

🔥

In fact, we used to refer to “what we do” as a vocation— as something reminiscent of “vocal” or calling. It’s as if we KNEW that you could be LED intuitively towards something.

And, that sort of belief system finds solid footing in Scripture.

🔥

As we move forward from the 9 “gifts of the spirit” we discussed in the previous talk, we work through more. And, we see that God might gift His children to—

⚙️ create new things

🪩 dance

🎨 draw or paint

📐 organize or administrate

🛠️ mechanically fix or build

🎵 musically bless others

✏️ write and communicate

🔥 do anything else where we see his supernatural empowerment…

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Passages referenced in this talk where gifts are mentioned in the New Testament:

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Ephesians 4:11-12

Romans 12:6-8

1 Peter 4:8-11

Exodus 31:2-5

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Links for this talk =

📗 tell us where to ship your free LifeLift book = www.Jenkins.tv/free 

✏️ take the 7-minute spiritual gifts Q&A, and discover how God uniquely empowers you to do something that far exceeds your natural, human capacity and function at the level of Heaven = www.Jenkins.tv/assessment-spiritual-gifts 

🔥 access the on-demand, online course = www.jenkins.tv/lifelift-200 

A few years ago I was in a church service when the visiting preacher, at the very end of his message, locked eyes with me, and began talking. To be clear, in front of everyone, he directed his statements towards me.

They were clear.

They were concise.

They were spoken in front of everyone— so all the people attending that morning could hear exactly what he said.

They were laced with grace.

💙

The VAST majority of the things he said to me were facts there’s no way he would have known— unless I told him or unless God did. And though there was nothing “new” or revelatory about the words he spoke, he succinctly confirmed some of the musings of my heart.

I told a friend about this story and he asked, “Why would God tell you THROUGH him? Why didn’t God just tell you directly?”

The thing is…

… well…

God had. God had told me multiple times.

But, when that men spoke, it really confirmed in my heart that I HAD BEEN hearing the voice of my Heavenly Father all along, because He went out of His way to tell someone who had NO OTHER WAY of knowing…

… except for God told him.

And He told that man to speak to me.

💙

Now, think about it…

Yes, we find stories in the Bible where God shows up “out of nowhere” and does something. He sends ravens to feed Elijah (1 Kings 17:2f.). He speaks to the prophet Balaam through a talking donkey (Numbers 22:21f.). Peter pays the temple tax after Jesus tells him to catch a fish— and the coins are in the fish’s mouth (Matthew 17:24f.).

Yes, God can do whatever He wants.

But, most of the time…

… even 99.9999% of the time…

He works THROUGH people to touch other people.

💙

And that’s part of the point of the spiritual gifts (remember, as we discussed in the previous talk, that word doesn’t actually appear in the New Testament per se). They are a means whereby God— at the capacity of Heaven— works THROUGH people to reach TO other people.

That is, we become conduits, connectors… to the Kingdom.

💙

Listen in as we walk through the first nine “gifts of the spirit” that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11.

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Links for this talk =

✏️ take the 7-minute spiritual gifts Q&A, and discover how God uniquely empowers you to do something that far exceeds your natural, human capacity and function at the level of Heaven = www.Jenkins.tv/assessment-spiritual-gifts 

📗 tell us where to ship your free LifeLift book = www.Jenkins.tv/free 

🔥 access the on-demand, online course = www.jenkins.tv/lifelift-200 

💙 The Healing Workshop  = www.Jenkins.tv/THW 

A few years ago I revisited a book my Dad wrote 20+ years ago, re-drafted it, and then re-published it. In the process I learned a TON about the subject of the book, spiritual gifts.

Along the way, I discovered some “good news” and I stumbled into some “bad news.”

😳

The bad news is this…

The term “spiritual gifts” that I heard so much about growing up in the church (a great church, a super-experience) doesn’t actually exist in Scripture— not in the original Greek language. So, all of that reading and studying and thinking about the certainty of something I wrongly THOUGHT I understand turned out to… well… not exist exactly in the way I thought it did.

🤦‍♂️

The good news…?

Well, even though that two-word phrase (“spiritual gifts”) isn’t found in the Bible, something FAR MORE powerful is.

Specifically, this…

When Paul wrote about “spiritual gifts” he used FOUR different words and concepts to relay what they are— in the best way he could.

Moreover, I think he was just hitting the surface— the proverbial “tip of the iceberg.”

🥶

In this talk, we launch into a new “series.”

You’ll learn about:

✏️ Pneumatikons = the spirituals, the presence (see 1 Corinthians 12:1)

✏️ Charismata = expressions of grace (1 Corinthians 12:4)

✏️ Diareseis = appointments, placements (1 Corinthians 12:5)

✏️ Energematon = energies, divine power-flow (1 Corinthians 12:6)

Those are the four Greek words we most often (read: always) translate as “spiritual gifts.” Yet, as we break it down, we see there’s so much more going on here, far more happening, than “just something you possess” or have.

🔥

You’ll discover, over the next few minutes, that the Holy Spirit— right now— empowers you to do something supernatural, something that exceeds our human capacity, and operates at the level of Heaven.

And that’s true whether you’re working in a church or a coffee shop, a drug rehab or a department store, serve as a prophet or a policeman, whether you teach adults the Bible or find yourself talking small kids into brushing their teeth and going to bed on time.

I know, seems like a big gap there.

Listen in…

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Links for this talk =

📗 tell us where to ship your free LifeLift book = www.Jenkins.tv/free 

✏️ take the 7-minute spiritual gifts Q&A, and discover how God uniquely empowers you to do something that far exceeds your natural, human capacity and function at the level of Heaven = www.Jenkins.tv/assessment-spiritual-gifts 

🔥 access the on-demand, online course = www.jenkins.tv/lifelift-200 

Who you are is greater than what you do. The fruit of your life is an overflow of the person you’re becoming.

⭐️

💥 INSIDE-OUT

Work on you while you work on the dream. That is, do BOTH at the same time— it’s not “either-or” but “both-and.”

This matters…

A Yale study affirmed that:

* 15% of the people who succeed do so because of their education or skill
* 85% do so because of their interpersonal skills

Notice, the majority of people who “make it” do so because of WHO they are (or who they have become).

⭐️

💥 INTENSIFIED

Success doesn’t change people— as we often think. Rather, it reveals who we actually are— who we’ve been all along. It amplifies the things about us.

Success intensifies our:

* Idiosyncrasies = the odd (but morally neutral) attributes that make us who we are
* Issues = the things we need to work on… this includes our insecurities
* Incredible uniqueness = the gifts and skills we have

All three can become exponentially more important, so we want to deal with each of them NOW, so that we’re ready when the time comes to share our gifts with others— because we never know when that time will come.

About the incredible uniqueness we all carry:

* Ephesians 2:8-10 = grace saves and also empowers us into a destiny and purpose
* Psalm 139:13 = God intentionally created David (and us)
* Jeremiah 1:5 = not only did God create Jeremiah (and us), but He also set us apart from our mother’s womb
* Isaiah 44:24 = suggests this happened even before time began
* Galatians 1:15 = Paul reminds us that God set him— and us— apart from the time we were born, even though he know Paul would persecute the church before he ultimately found his calling, and that we would also blunder before we stepped into ours.

⭐️

💥 INTERDEPENDENCE

If you look back at the dreams you penned in part 1 (WHAT), most of them are either:

* FOR others (to benefit your spouse, family, etc.), and / or
* WITH others

In other words, you won’t achieve your greatest dreams alone. So work now on being the kind of person that connects well with and empowers other people.

In addition, be sure you have a “bus” of the right people around you— including people who can speak into your life and even correct you.

⭐️

Note: circle back to part 1– to your dreams. Define what they are. They’ve been placed there by God.

(Own them, verses rent them— like John Maxwell mentioned on stage at the Young Living event.)

And, if that’s true, manage the daily grind… do the stuff.

🚌

Important links:

⚙️ Download the free planner— on PDF— at www.Jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF

⭐️ Claim your Advance book + audiobook for just $5: www.Jenkins.tv/A5

🚎 Ready to test drive the planner? Access it at www.Jenkins.tv/8