Maureen Y. Smith - Conquering the Seeds of Destruction

In today's podcast, you will hear another attribute of God that should be displayed in your life. By operating in loyalty, you will not only show how God has moved into your life, but you will show how your relationships have become meaningful and long-lasting because of the loyalty that you have shown to them. This is not something that happens overnight. There may be times where you are tested to see how loyal you will be. You will have to decide if you will be loyal to God and represent Him OR if you will be loyal to yourself and operate in your own ways. Which way will you choose?

If there was ever a time that one of God's characteristics is something that each person should learn, it is today's topic of "Walking in Honesty." Most people would verbally say that they walk in honesty on a consistent basis and it would be wonderful if people's actions displayed that as well. If you were to look at relationships that have fallen apart or become strained, you may uncover that dishonesty was a reason behind its destruction. Because God wants us "all" to be in fellowship with one another, it becomes crucial that we allow His teachings to manifest inside of us. Honesty is the best policy!

As you listen to today's podcast, you will continue to hear the discussion on God's characteristics and how we are to learn and embrace them on a daily basis. When you think about showing respect to others, you may find yourself having to put self to the side and show respect to someone, even if it is hard to do. God needs you to represent Him in a pleasing way. Also, there may be times where you need to seek God diligently in order to have respect for yourself. God loves others and He loves you; therefore, it becomes necessary that you respect yourself and feel respected by others also.

In today's podcast, I share the importance of communicating with God. When you are building your relationship with Him, it becomes important to keep a two-way dialogue with Him. You have to be able to talk and listen to Him just as I shared in Chapter One of the book. It is important to keep the lines of communication open with Him regardless of what is taking place in your lives. Although some people pray to God when bad things are happening, He wants you to also pray to Him when things are good. Praying to God is necessary and should be done on a consistent basis. 

There have been many things that you may have experienced and prayerfully, you have been given some tools to help you conquer those things. Today, I wanted to share another characteristic of God which is the ability to walk in kindness. Although for the most part, it may seem easy to do so, it becomes important also to walk in kindness when you may have been wronged or if you just don't feel like being kind to others. The goal becomes for you to take the focus off of you and to put the focus on God on what He is asking you to do. Be a true representative of Him and Walk in Kindness.

As you listen to today's podcast, you will hear another one of God's characteristics being discussed which is Displaying Strength. Many times, people will say that they have displayed strength when they have faced obstacles in life. Although that may be true, the goal becomes to display strength not only in a physical and mental capacity, but also in a spiritual capacity. This will require you to spend the quality time with God that is necessary so that you can hear the Holy Spirit and operate in His voice regardless of what you are faced with.

Forgiveness can be a difficult characteristic of God to embrace. When you feel hurt or upset, especially from someone that may have caused it, it becomes hard to "turn the other cheek". However, God requires it. We all want to be forgiven by God, so it becomes necessary to operate in forgiveness with others as well as with yourself. You don't want to continue to keep living in hurt and pain, especially from the past, so allow yourself to develop this characteristic of God so that you can be free from all of it.

As you listen to today's podcast, I will continue to explore how all of us are to walk in humility. It becomes necessary to make a choice of putting self to the side. As you will hear, Jesus taught us lessons of how to show service to others. Although it may be difficult at times, He still wants each of us to be concerned about the well-being of others, even if it challenges how you operate in the leadership roles that you have. Allow God's voice to be the guidance that you need in displaying a heart of humility.

As things can become more complicated in today's world, it can be challenging to keep your peace. You must allow yourself to be open in receiving it when it does come your way. When God is trying to keep you in a state of peace, it becomes important to hear His teachings so that you can rest on His guidance and not your own. By staying in obedience to Him, this will help you to walk in peace daily.

In today's podcast, I revisit how the adversary can cause you to get consumed into your own thoughts and desires hoping that you will give in to a selfish nature. As you have learned over time, it becomes important to listen to God instead of the enemy. The more you spend time with God, your desires begin to change. You will start to feel His love and embrace it in such a way that you intentionally seek God more. You "want" to praise and worship Him because of the love that you have for Him and you will also have an openness to express genuine love to others.